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...and it's not the weather.
Trying to book a three/four night break next week in the UK somewhere, maybe Orkney or summer in the Hebrides...and I might as well fly to Istanbul and have a holiday there for the same price. Calmac want £140 for a vehicle and 2 people from Oban to Tiree? Aberdeen to Orkney at about £300 per person. Don't even think about trying to go to Scilly.
Don't understand why you can fly/visit to so many places, so far away for nothing and then why its so killer expensive to get to places in the uk.
Surely it's down to the fact the service is needed but not much demand to make it cheap
In the middle of August?
Quality?
It's failing?
those are not cheap places to visit for obvious reasons
FAIL!
£140 for two and car to get to tiree?
Not that bad really. Calmac are already heavily subsidised by the Scottish Government. It must cost a shedload to run those ferries so that a few people can get to some pretty remote destinations. Sorry bud but moaning about those prices wins you no sympathy from me.
Use your nut and leave the car behind. Park up at Uig on Skye and ferry it across the water to Tarbert.
We went over to Harris as foot passengers and yomped around both island for next to nothing. There's a decent bus service and every time we hitched we got a lift first car. Most times the driver would offer to take us to the doorstep of wherever we were travelling. Lovely, welcoming people on the outer Hebrides.
Calmac want £140 for a vehicle
Call me crazy but why not take your bicycle instead? 😉
Bikes are by far the best way to see the islands.
If it could be done cheaper and better then why not go and smash it and do it.
hint: you won't be able too.
It is a few bob, but we do live in a country where things such as wages and the cost of living is higher - of course you could go to cheap Europe fringes for less. As above, the cost is small compared to the experience of the place.
Maybe if flights cost what they really cost, with the tax they should pay and an environmental weighting it might compare...
The Scottish islands can be some of the most stunning places on earth. They can be a bit wind swept, but the remoteness is part of the appeal. If you want that, suck it up and pay.
I enjoy the odd foreign holiday, but for me you can't compare going to the islands with a Ryanair special to Greece. The Calmac ferry will still be smashing its way to Tiree come February, I'm sure Ryanair don't bother in the winter.
From recent visits to west Scotland I wouldn't say the tourist industry is failing at all. Ferries to Lewis & Harris were fully booked when I wanted to travel. B&Bs were showing "No Vacancy" signs. Loads of tourists around.
So, what have you got to back up the assertion that the tourist industry is failing? US visitors fell a bit over the last few years, for obvious reasons. But we remain the world's 7th most touristed country (6th if you look only at international visitors), which is obviously punching above our weight, and that number rose in 2011.
But we remain the world's 7th most touristed country (6th if you look only at international visitors), which is obviously punching above our weight, and that number rose in 2011.
I'd imagine recent events in London will also have helped that figure rise.
Which recent events? These are the figures from 2011 remember.
On recent visits in Wales and Cornwall all I heard was what a terrible summer it had been and how the last few years since foot and mouth hadn't been much better.
God rules the highlands, cal mac rules the islands.
FWIW I've never thought CalMac prices were that bad - P&O to Orkney on the other hand.
But isn't there now an Orkney service from near JOG which is supposed to be reasonable?
But we remain the world's 7th most touristed country (6th if you look only at international visitors), which is obviously punching above our weight, and that number rose in 2011.
touristed
[b]TOURISTED?[/b] 🙄
Don't understand why you can fly/visit to so many places, so far away for nothing and then why its so killer expensive to get to places in the uk.
How is that an indication of failure? more an indication of success that they can demand those prices. Supply and demand innit?
As jon1973 says. And it keeps the riff-raff at bay.
don simon - MemberTOURISTED?
I liked the way it rolled off the tongue. Touristed. Touristed! It's not a real word, but rest assured it will be.
Originally I wrote "visited" but that doesn't cover domestic tourism, and had the disadvantage of being a real word.
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On recent visits in Wales and Cornwall all I heard was what a terrible summer it had been and how the last few years since foot and mouth hadn't been much better.
Perhaps you should go abroad, then you wouldn't understand what they're moaning about.
But isn't there now an Orkney service from near JOG which is supposed to be reasonable?
Scrabster (Thurso is the town) to Stromness rather than Kirkwall, it's a couple of hours ferry, but the downside is the length of the drive, it's a long way. I went to Orkney (to dive the Scapa wrecks) and it's 10 hours from manchester if you don't stop other than driver changes and bush wees and get lucky with traffic
Don't understand why you can fly/visit to so many places, so far away for nothing and then why its so killer expensive to get to places in the uk.
Try flying to Iceland, then catching a bus to one of the more outlying areas in a national park.
Or any guided trip.
A close friend went out there in June with the BTCV, her flight was £69, the bus from Reykjavik to the park where she was volunteering cost around £100. It was a four-hour drive...
I'd suggest you've never looked into the costs of holidaying anywhere in Scandinavia.
Grockled? Emmetted?TOURISTED
Might be tricky explaining the meaning to enquiring visitors, mind... 😀
On recent visits in Wales and Cornwall all I heard was what a terrible summer it had been and how the last few years since foot and mouth hadn't been much better.
Sounds like a great trip. FWIW I holiday in the UK all the time (inc the Scottish islands) and never hear anyone moaning about how dire business is.
How much to fly your car to Istanbul?
I've holidayed at home since getting a camper. Western isles, wales, cairngorms (on bbc hd now). I don't spend any more than when I've been abroad really. Petrol being the biggest cost mind (2.0 aircooled).
Joe, I'm not really sure what your expectations are. There are various choices of ferry to travel to Orkney. Northlink operate two services, one Scrabster-Stromness and another Aberdeen-Kirkwall. Or you could travel with the other operator on a brand new catamaran car ferry from near JOG. Final option would be a passenger only ferry from JOG.
Do you really think that the prices being charged make the tourist industry fail? Tourism is after all Orkneys largest industry. The prices which tourists pay will be the same as locals pay and the same or similar as hauliers pay to get their goods to tesco, shops, petrol etc. One of the operators is indeed subsidised as a lifeline service. I have certainly never seen any signs of a failing industry, I would always be happy, as would others here to advise but it would appear that your mind has now been made up. Oh and P&O have not operated that route for about 10 years.
On recent visits in Wales and Cornwall all I heard was what a terrible summer it had been and how the last few years since foot and mouth hadn't been much better.
I spend a fair bit of time in Cornwall most summers, and never hear anyone moaning about lack of business.
Most campsites are pretty much full. Most pubs doing a roaring trade.
Maybe you are going to the wrong places, the sort of places where people blame their own lack of trade on anything but themselves. ?
Isn't the stretch of water to the Isle of Wight the dearest mile for mile.
>I might as well fly to Istanbul and have a holiday there for the same price. Calmac want £140 for a vehicle and 2 people from Oban to Tiree?<
Great value - Tiree p1sses all over Instanbul.
Have you checked how much it would cost to fly your car or, your bike for that matter, to Instanbul? Bikes go free on Calmac ferries incidentally and all of the islands roads can be cycled in a day.
I suspect the journey times are rather similar - for that you'll likely get a wildlife spotting trip par excellence - and the chance to meet and talk with your fellow travellers. Far better than swopping germs with 200 sweating tourists at 30,000 ft.
Suck it up - you [u]will not[/u] be disappointed.
Tiree p1sses all over Instanbul. 😯
oh dear....
ok said slightly tongue in cheek but 'oh dear' what exactly? They are two completely different types of holiday so rather pointless comparing the two in the first instance...
Yep, for Orkney you want [url= http://www.pentlandferries.co.uk/ ]Pentland Ferries [/url] which is much cheaper than either Aberdeen or Scrabster.
The Western Isles get subsidised ferries - never understood why the Northern Isles don't get the same breaks myself (I think Calmac is partially or wholly state owned, yet failed in it's bid for the Northern Isles service which went to Northlink Ferries when P&O gave it up).
But yes, it is cheaper to go abroad than go home so I don't get up there as often as I really should. I can see my wee lad being 3 or 4 before the first time he gets up (18 months now).
Capt Kronos, Northlink Ferries are subsidised by the government in the same way Calmac are. Northlink is a joint venture between Calmac and RBS so are, in essence more state owned than Calmac. Even given the level of subsidy Pentland Ferries are cheaper on some occasions. P&O certainly never 'gave it up' they lost out in a tendering process and Calmac did try and get the contract, and we're successful through Northlink of which they own. In the last few months Northlink have been taken over by Serco.
[url= http://www.forbes.com/sites/deborahljacobs/2012/06/20/the-most-popular-cities-in-the-world-to-visit-in-2012/ ]The 20 Most Popular Cities[/url]
London leads the world in the two key criteria MasterCard considered: as both the most popular destination city for overseas travelers (they’re expecting 16.9 million foreign visitors this year), and in the average amount each visitor spends (their total spending there is projected to be $21.1 billion)
Not sure the facts bear out your negativity tbh.
I do wish people would celebrate the UK instead of moaning about it.