Could do better

Torrevieja, the fifth largest City in the Valencian Community, lags far behind places like Benidorm in terms of hotel rooms. A new investment group is looking into the prospect of building a new four-star hotel in the city to improve matters but that will take time. In the meantime, UK Package Tour companies are going head to head with offers to attract holiday makers to the region in a bid to take advantage of on an improving market.

For the last few years Mallorca has been the number one holiday destination for UK travellers but already they are lying second to the Turkish resort of Dalaman with Florida’s Orlando and Disney World third, the Costa Blanca fourth and the Greek island of Crete fifth in terms of bookings for this year.

Turkey’s Bodrum, Ibiza and Larnaca in Cyprus are also becoming a force to be reckoned with for holiday makers as a reminder to the Costa Blanca that they need to continue to move forward and not stay static to keep the tourist Euros rolling in.

Thomas Cook recently launched a new advertising campaign predicting that Turkey, with its cheaper prices and great beaches would be the in-place to visit in 2010. They expected Mallorca, Tenerife, Egypt and Cyprus to be popular choices too.

Hot on their heals was Travel agency Going Places who launched an early-booking offer for Airtours' holidays with savings of up to £200 per booking for those booking before 4 February and Direct Holidays who have special deals on selected destinations with £100 off and child-goes-free deals for those booking before 31 January.

Co-operative Travel director of retail distribution Trevor Davis commented "As the holiday sector recovers, the battle for bookings will intensify, with companies seeking to increase their market share." They are offering an additional £50 off winter 2010-11 breaks for those that book early.

After a challenging 12-months, many agencies are looking at improving confidence in the marketplace. Meanwhile, south of Alicante we still await new hotel investment to arrive which could put Torrevieja firmly on the travel map for the package holidaymaker.

In my opinion, Torrevieja has a lot going for it. The seafront has been much improved as has the shopping area with its new pedestrianised streets. However, there are still areas that the council need to look at for example, the graffiti which makes parts of the town an eyesore and the derelict plots of land where building have been torn down not to be replaced.

Torrevieja is getting there but has still has a long way to go. It has to decide whether it wants to attract the young, families or the elderly because the type of town and the facilities that each group requires are very different. In a town of the size of Torrevieja, it would be difficult to cater for all three and keep them happy.