Economic Crisis Means Travel Bargains : Kathika Travel Website

By Amanda Kendle

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If you Google the phrase “tourism downturn” these days, you’ll come up with a ton of newspaper articles from all around the world complaining that recently released figures show the tourism industry is slowing down in their country. Apart from a rare few spots that seem to be defying the downturn, these headlines are great news for travelers – wherever there is a tourism downturn, there are bargain fares, cheap hotels and extra special deals to try to attract tourists. Here are just some of the destinations which are desperate to attract a tourist dollar – check them out if you’re trying to plan a budget vacation soon:

Photo credit: jonrawlinson

oia, greece

Greece: Sailing the Greek islands is an activity sitting on the wishlist of many travelers, so this might be a good time to go. Revenue from tourism fell a massive 20% for the first two months of 2009 and there’s no sign that it will improve, prompting Greek travel agents to advertise special deals to attract tourists.
Alaska: A closer vacation destination for Americans, Alaska was expecting a big tourism year to celebrate its 50th anniversary of becoming a state. Sadly, that doesn’t look like it will be the case with bookings way down, but the good side for us is that there are huge discounts on travel costs for tourists heading here – especially for cruise ship stays.
New Zealand: The “Land of the Great White Cloud” has been booming with tourists in recent years, especially since the Lord of the Rings films used its amazing landscapes as a setting, but now things aren’t looking so great. That has prompted New Zealand tourism operators to get innovative, and include lower budget experiences on their books, with alternatives to suit different kinds of tourists. For example, Chinese tourists were not using the popular option of RVing around New Zealand because they were unsure about driving around, so tour operators are offering RV hires complete with chauffeur drivers.
Iceland: Formerly a super-expensive destination, the economic crisis hit Iceland early and hard, and their currency devalued by almost half – bad news for them, but great news for tourists. So while their tourism statistics are relatively stable, it’s still a great place to visit now, because it’s actually relatively cheap.
Singapore: This used to be a great place to shop or for stopovers enroute to other Australasian destinations – now with tourism numbers falling by 13% already – and hotel revenue falling by 33% – there are travel bargains to be had there.