The East Coast Aussie Summer That Never Was
Abnormal wet weather conditions sweeping Eastern Australia combined with super cheap holiday packages due to low season have led to a surge in the number of Aussies packing their cossies and heading away for some highly sought-after sunshine.
On lastminute.com.au, an Australian leading travel and lifestyle website, bookings to sun-soaked destinations have risen as much as 350% on the same period last year (Jan/Feb 2008 on Jan/Feb 2007).
A time when Aussies usually stay put to soak up our own sun, the wet, cold start to 2008 has seen bookings to sunny destinations go through the roof, inlcuding: –
** The Cook Islands (+350%)
** Fiji (+163%)
** Bali (+133%)
** Vietnam (+117%)
** Maldives (+100%)
** Phuket (+50%)
** Bangkok (+37%)
** Manilla (+30%)
** Singapore (+14%)
Chris Meehan, CEO of lastminute.com.au says, “This year’s soggy summer has prompted a mad dash to South-East Asia and the Pacific where temperatures are high and there’s not a brolly in sight.â€
The holiday rush is unlikely to slow down either with The Australian Bureau of Meteorology recently announcing that the wet weather is expected to remain until June 2008 for Australia’s Eastern states.
“This cold weather pattern, teamed with February traditionally being low season with greatly discounted packages, means now is a great time to get away, soak up some sun and save hundreds.”
“Most of our holiday packages right now offer some type of value-add such as free nights.â€
“Now is the perfect opportunity to make your escape out of the rain.”
“You don’t need to spend a fortune and you certainly won’t need your wet weather gear.â€
Rain, Rain Go Away! Low priced sunny escapes can be found on www.lastminute.com.au right now.
A Report by The Mole
John Alwyn-Jones
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