It’s hard to believe, looking out of the window, that we have just entered British Summer Time with the clocks going forward. I reckon it should be re-named British Damp Squib Time.
With Easter a little over a week away, there’s little sign of the fickle British weather improving for the longest bank holiday of the year.
In fact I remember bobbing around on a small boat in the Solent last Easter waiting for the arrival of P&O Cruises’ superliner Ventura into Southampton for the first time in the midst of a snow blizzard.
A far cry from the warm climes of the Mediterranean or Caribbean where the ship would go on to spend its first year of duty.
But, let’s face it, we know not to expect decent weather in the UK irrespective of the time of year, which makes holiday planning in the UK a precarious art at the best of times.
Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing better than finding a beautiful British beach to let the children run around, make sandcastles and paddle in the sea.
The trouble is, when the weather is overcast, the wind is picking up and the clouds and rain start streaming in and you’re left running for cover from the elements, the feeling of disappointment about trying to holiday in the UK is palpable.
Therefore one has to suspend reality when hearing projections from UK tourism bosses when they suggest, as they did last week during the third annual British Tourism Week, that as many as one in five people (around five million) who took an overseas holiday last year would consider taking a domestic break this year to save money.
I’ve been around long enough to have heard many an optimistic claim from the travel industry in the face of adversity, but this one has to be amongst the most ambitious.
Besides the vagaries of the British climate, what the prediction from tourism agency VisitEngland fails to account for is the high cost of holidaying in the UK unless you’re a camper or staying in a caravan, the patchy service standards and uneven quality of the food.
Combine those disincentives together and add on the relative much better value of taking a cruise or flying off for a fortnight of guaranteed sun in the Med, and it’s easy to see why I take such forecasts by the UK tourism body with a bucket of salt, even in difficult economic times.
However, be prepared to be bombarded with images of beautiful British countryside in the run-in to Easter as VisitEngland tries to convince us all to back Britain and forgo our foreign holidays this year as part of a £3 million TV and newspaper advertising campaign.
Like all things in this life, you pays your money and takes your choice.
I’ll certainly be considering a UK short self-catering break this year as I have done for many years.
But for the main family holiday, I’m off on a two week cruise in August where I know quality, service standards, meals and value will be second to none – and, on the off chance that the weather turns, there’s still ample to do on board protected from the rain.
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