Naturist Holiday Costs
tpe...@gmail.com
holidays. Two weeks in April in Fuerteventura £1008 for a single
person or £668 per person if you are part of a couple.Having a laugh
arent they? We have been to the island several times on a normal
package & paid half that price.
Tim Forcer
IME, packaged naturist holidays are almost always more expensive
than textile equivalents. In some respects that is to be
expected - it's true of some other "specialist" holiday companies
I have encountered.
Supply and demand also come in - naturist accommodation is
probably more limited than textile, so _can_ command a premium
and get it. IMO the substantial number of French naturist
resorts/centres, and the very wide range of types of holiday they
cater for, means that this premium is much smaller than might be
the case in (say) Greece.
Some would say "you get what you pay for", and IME that is a
factor with holiday companies, but only a factor and certainly
not an over-riding one.
Also IME, it's always possible to find a holiday broadly
equivalent to a brochure package for a lower total cost. How
much effort one is prepared to put in to achieve that saving is
up to the consumer. However, these days brochure prices change
as time goes on, and "last minute" deals where a company has
vacancies will obviously offer even greater savings - but I doubt
there are many late-availability bargains in the naturist holiday
market?
YMMV
--
Tim Forcer t...@ecs.soton.ac.uk
The University of Southampton, UK
The University is not responsible for my opinions
AndyC
<tpe...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1134086909.8...@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com...
I cannot see how a relatively small tour operator working in a somewhat specialist
market can ever compete on price with the big operators who offer similar destinations
which would appeal to the vast majority of holiday consumers. What one would expect
from a specialist in a certain market is a far superior holiday to the client, because
it is based in the client's own specialist needs.
I have in the past taken a two week package holiday in Fuerteventura at just 139GBP
per person staying in a small cramped accommodation, infested with cockroaches, on a
non-naturist complex close to a non naturist beach and as a result of that experience
I would far prefer to pay considerably more for a holiday which is more in line with
my personal needs.
OTOH there are those out there who simply want a "cheap holiday" in which case they
would be far better looking at the big operators who offer "cheapness" as their unique
selling point as opposed to those who offer a certain level of luxury aimed at a
specialist (in our case naturist) market.
Steve Doerr
> Supply and demand also come in - naturist accommodation is
> probably more limited than textile, so _can_ command a premium
> and get it. IMO the substantial number of French naturist
> resorts/centres, and the very wide range of types of holiday they
> cater for, means that this premium is much smaller than might be
> the case in (say) Greece.
In this case, that should not be an issue, since the accommodation
referred to is probably the Occidental Grand - a textile resort with a
small dedicated naturist area which you will find in many of the
mainstream brochures. If it is that accommodation, then the prices
quoted don't sound particularly high for two weeks all-inclusive in
April. (By way of comparison, 2 weeks in the Occidental departing 16
April is £1,108 for a single person through First Choice.)
--
Steve
bertrum flack
"AndyC" <An...@despammed.com> wrote in message
news:dnbjbd$sf9$1...@nwrdmz02.dmz.ncs.ea.ibs-infra.bt.com...
>
> <tpe...@gmail.com> wrote in message
> news:1134086909.8...@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com...
>
> > We received the new Penge brochure today.Here is an example of their
> holidays. Two weeks in April in Fuerteventura £1008 for a single
> person or £668 per person if you are part of a couple.Having a laugh
> arent they? We have been to the island several times on a normal
> package & paid half that price.
>
>
case they
> would be far better looking at the big operators who offer "cheapness" as
their unique
> selling point as opposed to those who offer a certain level of luxury
aimed at a
> specialist (in our case naturist) market.
>
>
5 star, yes you organise your own flights but with Easy Jet this is a good
price, to say the naturist market is specialised is to some degree correct,
but Peng do seem to be over the top price wise, check out their self drive
to Agde and you will see little difference, Peter Peng makes a very good
rake off out of Naturism and may I add he is also a general and textile
holiday company, Peter Peng is like most out to make money, we have found
that Eagle Peak is one of the best places to visit, nothing is to much
trouble for the proprietors, the price includes trips to the mountains,
trips to naturist beaches, first class accommodation and very good genuine
naturist company.
Example: last year we went to Eagle Peak from the UK, Easy Jet came to £350
for two people, our accommodation which was first class £250, hire car for a
week £96 ( Eagle Peak get you a discount)
Remember in the days of Elmsdale, Peng were ponds dearer for the same
accommodation and Holiday
Best wishes
John
Duncan Heenan
"AndyC" <An...@despammed.com> wrote in message
news:dnbjbd$sf9$1...@nwrdmz02.dmz.ncs.ea.ibs-infra.bt.com...
>
First Choice Holidays PLC, commenting on their latest, rather good,
financial results. They are probably the most successful UK tour operator,
and specialise in 'niche market' holidays where they can get a premium of
some sort. He was saying he is keen to make acquisitions in more 'niche'
markets. Wouldn't it be good if a Holiday major, such as First Choice, were
to buy in to naturist holidays and make them mainstream - TV advertising,
Tourist Board acceptance, freer beaches etc! If I were Peter Enghart, I'd
be offering Peng to First Choice right now, and booking a comfortable
retirement in the sun.
tpe...@gmail.com
called Monte Marina. The prices I quoted are for self catering.Half
board is £91 per person per week extra.
Rik
wrote:
>... to say the naturist market is specialised is to some degree correct,
>but Peng do seem to be over the top price wise, check out their self drive
>to Agde and you will see little difference, Peter Peng makes a very good
>rake off out of Naturism and may I add he is also a general and textile
>holiday company, Peter Peng is like most out to make money...
Of course he's out to make money - Peng Travel is a business and given that it's
been around for some 35 years they must be doing something right. It's my guess
that they pitch their prices at what their customers consider to represent value
for money.
If a few more enlightened tour operators recognised the business benefits of
offering naturist holidays then perhaps naturist holidays would no longer be so
"specialist" and the prices generally would reflect this.
Rik
Steve Doerr
> If I were Peter Enghart
Poor guy - he must despair of his name ever being spelt correctly on
uk.rec.naturist. (A few weeks ago, he was 'Peter Englherdt'.) For the
record, his name (I believe) is Peter Englert.
--
Steve
Steve Doerr
Then I take back all I said about the Occidental Grand.
By way of comparison, Chalfont Holidays' indicative prices for Monte
Marina are from £1,190 to £1,670 for a couple
(<http://chalfontholidays.co.uk/prices.htm>). Maybe it's the
accommodation owners who are charging a premium rather than the tour
operator/travel agent.
--
Steve
Steve Doerr
[snip]
Also, if you're BN members, you might be interested in the members'
holiday to Fuerteventura in May (/BN/ 166, p. 31). Unfortunately, I
can't go myself at that time :-(
--
Steve
AndyC
"Steve Doerr" <REVERSEdo...@blueyonder.co.uk> wrote in message
news:z5gmf.5514$iz3....@text.news.blueyonder.co.uk...
> tpe...@gmail.com wrote:
Maybe it's the
> accommodation owners who are charging a premium rather than the tour operator/travel
> agent.
Many accommodation owners realise that they *can* charge a premium for being naturist
and at the same time do not need to be at the mercy of the big operators who pay as
little as possible to the owners, to enable them to offer cheap holidays to the
masses. On the plus side, if the owners charge a premium, they can afford to offer
better accommodation.
AndyC
<tpe...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1134135430.1...@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...
Sorry I did not mention in my original post but the accomodation is
called Monte Marina. The prices I quoted are for self catering.Half
board is £91 per person per week extra.
As far as I am aware, Monte Marina is not available though the "cheap and cheerful"
package operators, so therefore your criticism is unfair.
Even if you were comparing with a similar textile complex, it would not take into
account that naturism is a minority market and therefore costs will be higher due to
scale.
If people want a cheap naturist holiday, the best thing to do is take a cheap package
with a cheap operator and find a beach where you can take your clothes off.
bertrum flack
>
> <tpe...@gmail.com> wrote in message
> news:1134135430.1...@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...
> Sorry I did not mention in my original post but the accomodation is
> called Monte Marina. The prices I quoted are for self catering.Half
>
> As far as I am aware, Monte Marina is not available though the "cheap and
cheerful"
> package operators, so therefore your criticism is unfair.
>
> Even if you were comparing with a similar textile complex, it would not
take into
> account that naturism is a minority market and therefore costs will be
higher due to
> scale.
>
> If people want a cheap naturist holiday, the best thing to do is take a
cheap package
> with a cheap operator and find a beach where you can take your clothes
off.
>
>
I hear what you are all saying but the point must be made that why should we
be ripped off by so called tour operators who think the word naturism means
ŁŁŁŁŁ in the bank.
It is possible to make your own arrangements to visit many resorts by doing
it yourself and most times the cost saving is worth the trouble.
We did our own package to Agde a few years ago and it worked out Ł400
cheaper than Peng, Ł250 cheaper than Elmsdale.
since then we go our own way and have found many of the clubs and resorts in
both Spain, and France can be done cheaper if you DIY.
Regards
John
Suzanne Piper
the price is exactly the same as if you book direct - it could be
slightly less expensive if you have a multi centre holiday.
Suzanne
0870 777 6837
Rik
wrote:
>I hear what you are all saying but the point must be made that why should we
>be ripped off by so called tour operators who think the word naturism means
>ŁŁŁŁŁ in the bank.
That's easy. You don't have to be ripped off by anyone- just don't give them
your custom.
Rik
David (the other one)
<johnfr...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>I hear what you are all saying but the point must be made that why should we
>be ripped off by so called tour operators who think the word naturism means
>ŁŁŁŁŁ in the bank.
>It is possible to make your own arrangements to visit many resorts by doing
>it yourself and most times the cost saving is worth the trouble.
That applies to most packages to countries like France. Why anyone
would book a package to France is totally beyond me. It's much cheaper
to do it yourself. This particularly applies to gîtes which are very
inexpensive when booked direct and far more expensive when booked
through UK travel companies as part of a package.
>We did our own package to Agde a few years ago and it worked out Ł400
>cheaper than Peng, Ł250 cheaper than Elmsdale.
It ain't rocket science....
>since then we go our own way and have found many of the clubs and resorts in
>both Spain, and France can be done cheaper if you DIY.
Good advice for those who need it...
David
Nude Martin
<tpe...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1134086909.8...@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com...
This post also points out one of my pet hates with just about all package
holidays. In this case a £340 'single suppliment'. As a single man, I object
to paying these suppliments so, last year I arranged my own holiday at La
Grande Cosse where a site cost only (from memory) ?13 per day regardless of
occupancy.. I drove across France, stopping at other naturist sites for
overnight accomodation, for about the same sort of fee.
I thoroughly enjoyed myself, and saw some beautiful country - which you have
difficulty doing from the inside of an aluminium tube. I am thinking of
doing the same again next year, with the added bonus of being able to cross
the Millau Bridge which was not open at the time of my previous journey.
Nude Martin
Mike
<snip>
Wouldn't it be good if a Holiday major, such as First Choice, were
> to buy in to naturist holidays and make them mainstream...
<snip>
In a modest way, high-profile travel agent lastminute.com has already
embraced exclusively naturist holidays.
It's subsidiary - HolidayHotels - provides highly flexible online
accommodation bookings by the day at four different developments at Vera
Playa.
Vera Natura
http://www.holidayhotels.com/hotel.php?HID=20050429102116319366
Torremar Natura
http://www.holidayhotels.com/hotel.php?HID=20050429111106125896
La Menara
http://www.holidayhotels.com/hotel.php?HID=20050429085812673565
Parque Vera
http://www.holidayhotels.com/hotel.php?HID=20050429101735707980
Another, smaller online textile travel agent - Find-Rooms.com offers
extremely competitive rates at the 4-star naturist Hotel Vera Playa. (plus
additional loyalty discounts for subsequent bookings)
http://www.find-rooms.com/results.aspx?arr=22/04/2006&dep=29/04/2006
Rik
wrote:
>
><tpe...@gmail.com> wrote in message
>news:1134086909.8...@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com...
>>We received the new Penge brochure today.Here is an example of their
>>holidays. Two weeks in April in Fuerteventura £1008 for a single
>>person or £668 per person if you are part of a couple.Having a laugh
>>arent they? We have been to the island several times on a normal
>>package & paid half that price.
>
>This post also points out one of my pet hates with just about all package
>holidays. In this case a £340 'single suppliment'. As a single man, I object
>to paying these suppliments so, last year I arranged my own holiday at La
>Grande Cosse where a site cost only (from memory) ?13 per day regardless of
>occupancy.. I drove across France, stopping at other naturist sites for
>overnight accomodation, for about the same sort of fee.
So in this case the "single supplement" was 100% because those going as a couple
would have paid only £6.50 each whereas you, as a single, paid £13.
Proportionally that's much worse than the previous example where the single
supplement is only 50%.
>I thoroughly enjoyed myself, and saw some beautiful country - which you have
>difficulty doing from the inside of an aluminium tube. I am thinking of
>doing the same again next year, with the added bonus of being able to cross
>the Millau Bridge which was not open at the time of my previous journey.
However, at 13 quid a night it's still good value. I've done similar things many
times during my cycling trips through Holland, Germany and Scandinavia and, to
be honest, it's always been so cheap I couldn't care less whether there's a
singles supplement or not.
Rik
Southern Africa
now arrange their own naturist holidays, via Newsgroups, Magazines, Word
of Mouth and the Web - do not need specialist support. Of course, some
will do so but nothing like the numbers from 20 and 40 years ago.
Specialist companies like Peter Englert 'Peng' will also find it
increasingly difficult and may well fall away. If people like
lastminute.com are doing it - then it is mainstream with a vengeance.
Simon
Phil and Julie
either to Euronat, to Poblado Naturista (Vera Natura in Spain) or
Vitromartis in Crete.
Any pointers from those more experienced about how to book 'independently'
or otherwise any 'cheaper' package companies? Any advice gratefully
received, either through the forum or to ph...@julieandphil.me.uk
Thanks
Julie and Phil
<tpe...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1134086909.8...@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com...
Tim Forcer
>
> ... Why anyone would book a package to France is totally
> beyond me. It's much cheaper to do it yourself. This
> particularly applies to gîtes which are very inexpensive
> when booked direct and far more expensive when booked
> through UK travel companies as part of a package.
While I would agree with the general view above, it isn't always
the case. When we had a holiday in La Jenny (quite a few years
ago), it was actually cheaper to book it through Peng than to
book accommodation and ferry separately and direct. And I did
try several variations on the theme. We did organise our own
hotels for the trip down and back!
Never underestimate the commercial power of an operator prepared
to buy in bulk and sell on at a modest margin.
Help! I've accused Peng of operating with "a modest margin"!!
I'm clearly in need of a cynicism reboot.