I expect your old oil boiler is much more polluting than gas, unless even that old technology has not reached the enclave yet?
No I don't have an old oil boiler either SH. Your stabs in the dark are rather off beam. I will however be continuing to support the efforts of many EU countries to bring in a frequent flyer tax. If anyone wants to fly to the EU from the UK they will just have to pay it like it or not. You seem to think you will be free of such laws, but of course that is a total mirage.
Those EU countries with failing economies and a heavy reliance on tourism will not welcome anything which will damage their much needed income. Your president is having a torrid time at the moment he needs all the support he can muster, poor chap.
''Heavy reliance on tourism'' - doesn't London get over 20 million visitors per year - 60% of whom come from the EU ? Although this dropped last year with 750,000 fewer European guests - hardly surprising. Apparently the UK is going to phase out the acceptance of ID cards and demand passports through the course of 2020. So the 2 questions loom large for prospective European visitors to the UK - ie. will I be welcome ? and Is it worth the hassle of getting a passport (which few of them have). This will most affect the young who currently flock to the UK on language learning holidays - but many of the language schools are now relocating to Malta or Ireland. Britain is far more dependent on European tourism than the other way around.
It is a real shame that people who are flying for the sake of business will have to pay, but that extra can be built into the cost of what they are selling. However I have no sympathy whatsoever for the tourist who will have to pay. Many airports in the popular tourists areas are supported by the local economy already, and they see the tax as a chance to contribute less. It will make no difference to the numbers who choose to still get somewhere warmer, but they will have to contribute more for the damage they are causing. The days of people living in Spain and France paying for you to have a cheap flight are coming to an end.
Tourist areas are basically supported by the cash from these tourists. If certain holiday spots raise their costs it is easy for UK tourists to switch elsewhere. Many airports are subsidised by local authorities to pay airlines like Ryanair to use their airport. There is no sign of that discontinuing.
Every year the airports here subsidise your flights. A tourist tax of £5 per person would wipe the subsidy out. The people here are very much in favour of it.
Do you think a £5 tourist tax would affect anybody's finances? A commercial decision was previously taken in many French rural areas to subsidise airlines to fly to their location. Removal of subsidies would therefore commercially affect the likely tourist numbers if an airline removed the service. This would obviously result in reduced tourist numbers and revenue. French rural areas have high unemployment and depend heavily on tourism. Any reduction in local income will inflame the yellow vests even more.
The UK had a record number of visitors last year, this will continue to rise. The drop last year from the EU was just 1%. The UK will flourish after Brexit.
Every year I see the reports about the dispute over subsidies to the airlines and airports. The vast majority of the population see no benefit to the local economy, but they are fed up with paying to give you cheap flights. They are also becoming more concerned about the effects of the aircraft coming in and taking off on the air quality. They do not want to live under a Heathrow or Stansted. Last year Ryanair made allsorts of threats about flying into Limoges, but in the end they gave in and accepted less than the previous year. As you say £5 would have little effect on the individuals flying, they would still use it, but everyone here would be happier about a third country no longer getting special treatment.
The local authorities obviously take more notice of those actually financially affected and use their knowledge to justify the accepted norm of subsidising airlines. The locals will soon complain when more local facilities close because of lack of of visitors. The last thing the Macron boy needs is even more hassle from the revolting local peasants. In Murcia, Ryanair has pulled several routes from its brand new white elephant £280 million airport. This has seriously affected its long term viability. I'm not sure why Ryanair has done this as it's planes always seemed well supported from Luton and the Midlands, maybe a disagreement over subsidies.
Yes Ryanair will pull services if they don't get what they want. They did it at several French airports for a couple of months, but came crawling back when they realised that there was not going to be more money.
I'm sure O'Leary wins more he loses. He knows full well European rural areas depend desperately on tourism.
Tourism cannot remain immune to the costs of combatting global warming SH. The benefits of mass tourism to local economies is often over stated - the money generated by all inclusive holidays often does not reach the local population. Many of the jobs created are not for local people but rather seasonal labour from other areas - if you doubt this then look at how many local people Butlins holiday camps in the UK employ - virtually none. Tourism can also have the effect of pushing up house prices beyond the reach of local people. In addition to the problems related to Co2 emissions through travel, we also have the problem that the Mediterranean has become the most polluted sea in the world, largely as a result of mass tourism. There are even bigger problems created by one day coach visitors to places like Venice or Amsterdam where tourists assume more of a nuisance value but give very little to the local economy. In Amsterdam it has reached the point where accident services cannot reach some parts of the city because they are clogged up with, often, British one day tourists on stag nights puking up all over the place - Amsterdam will be glad to see the back of them.
The Sani Dunes resort in Halkidiki I have been to several times employs mostly locals throughout its seven month season. When the hotels are closed there is nothing else to give them any income. Tourism is massively important to them. The same can be said for many rural locations around Europe, quoting a few overcrowded cities is irrelevant.
I am also in contact with several English families living in France where their income from a gite or two is financially very important to them. They desperately rely on tourism.
Tourism is important to the area of rural France where I live, and each year figures are collected that show how many have been here. However very few actually fly in, the greatest number come with their caravans, cars or mobile homes. There is a huge difference between here and somewhere set up as a holiday area that attracts a different type of tourist. The person who goes to a resort like Sani Dunes is not the same person who goes out and about looking at our local heritage. A resort loving person from the UK is seldom found in these parts, but people with a passion for discovery of history and nature will appear. I have stayed in many hotels on my travels around France, but always look for the slightly different, but one with a good restaurant, and never the holiday resort type of place. Gites in the right place at the right price and offering a decent standard of comfort will succeed and do. The local chateau is not doing too badly either letting part of itself out at £3,000 per week. My trips to Corsica, which relies heavily on tourism, have me finding my way to a remote village bar, and finding out about the local economy, the forest fires, or that the dustmen will only be collecting rubbish every other day from October to March now it can be cooler. Sitting at the side of a pool reading a book I can do here thank you. But to get back to the point, wherever I stay in France at a hotel or gite I will pay a tourist tax, my contribution to the local economy. To have someone say that he would vote against such a tax, and want the locals to subsidise his flights shows up just how little concern he has for others and the impact he might have on their environment.
You haven't posted such nonsense for a while. Sani Dunes is for those who appreciate the highest quality in service and food. Within the company group it possess the trip advisor No 1 & 2 hotels in the world. To suggest it's guests cannot appreciate history and culture makes me think you have hit the bottle a little early tonight. I would expect most guests, like myself use the resort amongst many alternatives throughout the year. Last year we also went to Murcia 3 times, Sorrento and Dubrovnik, enough culture and history for anybody. I'll leave you with the dustmen. You need to read the posts properly, I said I would disagree with a frequent flier tax. I'm quite happy to pay a tourist tax, which has been around in many countries for a long time.
Simply going by what you have told us in the past when you have been there. Lay by the pool and wait for the next meal. Anyway like it or not if you wish to continue flying to Europe expect to start paying the taxes.
