I was saddened to see the pictures over the weekend of Goldtrail holidaymakers at airports and overseas having their precious holidays spoiled or even cancelled.

In some senses, the Goldtrail holidaymakers were the lucky ones as Goldtrail held an ATOL licence. Their holidays have been spoilt but the CAA will ensure that those still to go will get their money back in due course and those overseas will be flown home at no additional costs. If they had not booked a package holiday but had created the holiday themselves either online or with a non-ATOL travel agent, they would have been left to fend for themselves.

Holiday companies are failing all the time - Monster Travel failed earlier in the week with almost as much disruption but failed to hit the headlines. I can’t understand why anyone would not book an ATOL Protected holiday these days – it might cost a few pounds more but at least you won’t loose any money if things turnout not the way expected. And with ash clouds and bad weather, strikes and walkouts, that seems to be happening quite a lot this summer.

IGLTA and Gran Canaria

Ever since Amro Worldwide started selling holidays to Gran Canaria, I have been puzzled as to why Europe's most popular gay destination had so few members of the International Gay & Lesbian Travel Association. I mused about why, with around 150 gay business with bars, restaurants, clubs and saunas plus a wide range of exclusively gay and gay-friendly accommodation, so few decided that membership of a worldwide gay travel network was not important.

So I decided that IGLTA needed some wider publicity on the Island and last autumn, approached Carlos Kytka, the European Ambassador who led me to Dario Jaen the Local Maspalomas Tourism Manager. The outcome after several meetings and phone calls was a presentation about IGLTA held on Tuesday 2 February. We were delighted that ExpoMeloneras - the local conference centre in Maspalomas - made a room available for us.

And so representatives from over 30 businesses including the local hospital gathered for a presentation by Carlos about IGLTA membership, an outlining of the benefits of working together to develop Gran Canaris to retain its leadership in the European Gay Travel Market from Dario and me explaining how membership of IGLTA had helped Amro to develop into the worldwide gay travel company it is today.

It was an excellent afternoon and I felt a real buzz about gay travel in the air. I am confident we will see many new members at the IGLTA Annual Convention in Antwerp at the end of June

Price Match Promise

It's good to see that the Euro has weakened against sterling this week by around 2.5% meaning we have been able to reduce the price of the accommodation element of your holiday cost. It's not a huge saving but after all the bad news of 2009, it is a small step in the right direction.

It has enabled us to have some really cracking good pricing deals for holidays going away over the next few weeks. So check out our Home Page offers.

We've also upped our Price Match Promise so you can be sure that you never pay more for your holiday than you need.

Gay Cruise Discounts

Gay Cruising has justifiably become very popular over recent years whether it be on whole ship charters or as part of a gay group on a traditional cruise. The idea that you can mix with like-minded people and meet new friends whilst enjoying visiting several destinations whilst only unpacking once is catching on fast. Plus it is great value as well.

Amro Worldwide is now making it even better value by offering discounts on gay cruises around the world. Plus we offer the financial protection of our ATOL 5826 and our unrivalled expertise in booking flights and pre and post cruise packages to make your cruise a holiday to remember.

Another airline fails leaving thousands potentially stranded:

It was sad to learn that Fly Globespan, Scotland’s Largest Airline, had gone into Administration last evening with all flights cancelled. This leaves many disappointed holiday makers hoping to go away for Christmas and thousands potentially stranded abroad.

Amro used Globespan for many of our Scottish departures. Last night, we contacted all our passengers overseas, many of whom were unaware of the demise until we called, to advise them of their new return flights which we had re-booked on alternative carriers. This was all at no extra cost to them as they are fully protected under our ATOL.

This morning, we have contacted passengers due to go away over the next few months. Rather than simply cancel and refund their money, we have worked to re-book them and ensure they can still enjoy their holiday – again at no additional cost.

By lunchtime, everyone was sorted – we even helped some clients who had not booked with us but were staying in the same resorts – and we have had some great emails of thanks. We celebrated our success with mince pies!

Thanks everyone !

Tenerife & Gran Canaria - Two Centre Holidays

Possibly the most popular question we are asked is "where else is there to go besides Gran Canaria that isn't going to cost the earth?"

Well, the answer is a two centre holiday combining a few days in the south of Tenerife with a few days in Gran Canaria. And by flying out on Saturdays and returning on Mondays, you can have 9 days holidays for no more than your usual annual holiday leave in going to Gran Canaria only.

Our resort in the south of Tenerife is Playa de las Americas. Here you'll find all the fun and frolics of Gran Canaria but on a slightly less frenetic scale but still with gay bars and discos and a super chill-out bar/resort at Playaflor. There are several gay beaches and cruising areas and the mix of golden and black volcanic sand adds a certain "je ne sais quoi" to lying on the beach.

And did we mention the weather? We have a sneaky feeling that Playa de las Americas beaches are slightly warmer in the winter as they don't seem to get that chilly wind off the sea that you can get in Gran Canaria.

It's great value too, adding around just a £100 to a 7 night holiday in Gran Canaria for the extra two nights and the short flight transfer between the two islands.

New Exclusively Gay Guest House in Spain

Last weekend I stayed a few days at Steve and Paul's new home in the rural Spanish coutryside outside Alicante on the Costa Blanca. The accommodation comprises four guest bedrooms, each with trendy and luxury en-suite bathrooms. There is also a comfy sitting room and cosy dining room for lunches and dinners..

As is common in this part of Spain, there are loads of outdoor terraces and shady gardens - one with a hammock - to enjoy the outdoor living and a wonderful clothing optional pool with plenty of sun loungers.

The location is great being surrounded by farms and vineyards yet less than a mile from the nearest town and just twenty minutes from Alicante Airport with its excellent flight links to major and regional UK airports. Gay beaches are around half an hour away and there is a lively gay scene in both Alicante and the nearby town of Elche.

Steve and Paul offer accommodation with breakfast at 4 Points as well as airport transfers. Complimentray drinks are available all day around the pool and lunches and dinners are available on request.