British tourists 20% down on last year!

[DebIreland]

Aer Lingus have just announced they will cancel their direct Dublin-Orlando service from the end of this year, but that shouldn't affect figures much.

Simon, Aer Lingus ceased their Shannon/Orlando and Dublin/Orlando flights a few months ago. There are now no direct flights from Ireland (at least from the Republic) to Orlando. But the main point I want to make is that, even so, dropping those flights had nothing to do with figures being down. It had to do with internal bickering in the airline and the failure of the company to come to an agreement with their employees' union on rates of pay and conditions etc. The flights were actually very successful and last year, back in January I couldn't get a flight to Orlando for June (6 months later!) with Aer Lingus - they were booked solid!! Such a shame they (the management) couldn't get their act together and keep those flights.

Thanks for such detailed information. It's great to know that UK figures aren't down (as that often reflects Irish figures too). In any case I don't think the fact that travel agent bookings are down (even if they were) is any real gauge at all these days with so many of us doing DIY holidays!

 

[disneyholic family]

And, if you do go around in Orlando insisting July is 'taco month', you will get very short shrift from the locals, no matter how funny you think it is.

but you would use the term cracker?

 

[SimonV]

Yes, Beth, when someone introduces themselves to me as 'a third generation Cracker,' I would use that term. Many genuine Floridians still use the term very readily, especially in Osceola County, which is prime cattle territory. It is not quite the perjorative term that many people think it is, and the history of this area is very clear about it. 'Crackers' were the original cowboys, and the term refers to the whips they used to round up cattle (rather than lassoo's) which were more suitable for the scrubby terrain. I am well aware some people use it in a derogatory way here in the US, but it is, unfortunately, a relatively modern usage of the word, and not related to its stem origin. I would highly recommend a visit to Forever Florida south of St Cloud in Osceola County where you can learn more about it.

Hi, DebIreland. Yes, you are absolutely right about Aer Lingus and thanks for your observations. There does seem to have been a real squabble between management and union over this route (which does seem to have been a loss-maker, sadly), and the end result was that AL scrapped it. It sounds like poor business all round, with the consumer being the loser (again).

 

[carolfoy]

... and first choice have added at least one extra flight to sanford for next summer, they certainly wouldn't choose this route if bookings were so dire.