Learn or improve while you relax!
Last year we launched a questionnaire to ask YOU the travelling public — if you would be temped to come to our paradise island outside the normal tourist season for organised activities ranging from scuba diving to dry stone walling. Following a huge response from our website: we are surprised to announce that the most popular choices are indisputably culture and cooking! Water sports were, understandably, less popular for the purposes of this exercise as you imagined shivering in your wetsuits in an icy tramontana — but we have had near-perfect weather all through this past autumn and winter.
Detail results show, from the broad range of 19 different options, of 650 boxes ticked, almost 100 were in favour f cooking holidays. Probably inspired by TV cookery programmes, but demonstrates how much interest there is out there — farmhouse restaurants with good accommodation and not much happening out of season — please note! The surprise runner-up is culture, closely followed by the more predictable horse riding and walking and, less predictably - language lessons — with Catalan just slightly ahead of Castellano! Next place is fairly evenly split between scuba & photography, then sailing, golf and cycling. Art classes and bird watching achieved a respectable response, followed a relatively minimal interest in cricket, rugby, environmental issues and dry stone walling!
Of course, the weather out of season is unpredictable, but it is rare for a week to go by — even in February — without a few days of clear blue sky with gentle breezes when those of us lucky enough to live here cannot stop smiling at our good fortune. Our survey has convinced us that activity holidays — packages arranged with accommodation, good food, good companions and excellent teachers / guides I equipment — is the way forward for the holiday industry, making the weather a pleasant feature of the holiday rather than the most important thing. This would gradually bring about alll-year-round tourism with positive effects for the island in terms of business & employment prospects and the economy as a whole, which would bring with them improvements in services in the public & private sectors.
Overall — we are convinced that activity holidays or ‘inspirational escapism’ will be the way forward for this island. We are pleased to welcome our very first activity holiday advertisement featuring watercolour instruction with excellent food and accommodation to our magazine and website.