Ibiza is passing up another great opportunity! How long have we been hearing about the topic of winter tourism? It’s been so many years that I’ve lost count. They plan and promise, yet never seem to be able to get anything done.

Now, for the first time ever, Ryanair are offering a direct winter connection from London to Ibiza several times a week, and the prices cannot be beaten. Who can forget the winters when we needed at least a full day to get from England to the island? There were stops in Amsterdam or stopovers for hours on the Spanish mainland, and the prices could easily have paid for a ticket to New York.

Alone among airlines was Germany’s Air Berlin that flew (and still flies) England to Ibiza in winter with a reasonable stopover on Mallorca. The service is available from Manchester and London. Oddly, you can’t book the England-Ibiza flights online, but Air Berlin assure us that a travel agent would definitely be able to book this almost direct flight.
But getting back to the original topic, the direct flight with Ryanair – I am thankful that any airline took this daring step of their own initiative.

The current island government hasn’t been able to realise any sort of winter programme for Ibiza. There were too many distractions left over from the past government that they had to deal with. But when Ryanair announced this move it would have been appropriate for the government to act quickly. What would have been helpful would have been the introduction of attractive programmes of activities, restaurants, hotels and health and beauty options – advertising and special offers to help ensure that guests from England actually come, because you can be sure, if this year’s Ryanair connection doesn’t get enough business they probably won’t be offering it again next year.

At the moment, Ryanair doesn’t even have a current list of hotels that are open in the winter on Ibiza, not to mention any sort of tips and ideas that make beautiful Ibiza an even more attractive winter destination.

The Island Council has realised that it must act and announced the first programmes for winter tourism for the winter season 2009/10. However, what about now? Where is the quick reaction with information material that Ryanair and Air Berlin could use and forward to travel agents across Europe?

Fortunately Ibiza has some sort of magic for the British and plenty may be willing to come this winter, regardless of any info material that may or may not exist. A large advertising agency are offering to try and drum up business for the island free of charge in the hope that their investment in time and pioneering work will pay off in the future.

Naturally they have a passionate comrade-in-arms with us. We’re doing our best here, on location, to do our part and move this forward. The current director of the hoteliers association has promised us a list as quickly as possible. We’ve been working on this for weeks and we make available all that we know about what is happening on Ibiza in the gorgeous winter months – events, fiestas, tips for activities, health and beauty programmes and great restaurants. In other words, everything that makes enjoyment of the landscape, the sea and everything else on the island even more perfect.

We’ve been doing it for years with our IbizaNOW and IbizaHEUTE magazines and online in both English and German on our websites: www.ibiza-now.com, www.iphoneibiza.com and www.ibiza-heute.de. It is a compilation of everything, in addition to the news and reports, that make Ibiza and Formentera so wonderful, that keep us passionate about this little slice of paradise. The islands are a wonderful place to escape the grey northern winters, as an oasis for rest and relaxation and a cornucopia of possibilities.

Ibiza and Formentera had a difficult year. With the engagement and firm belief in the islands, perhaps working together we can make this winter a bit more lively and help polish the islands’ image for the coming years.

The islands have surely earned our efforts.

Here we’d like to offer our thanks to all those who have invested their time, reputation and even their money for Ibiza and Formentera.

The islands are particularly beautiful in winter. They are awash with greenery and flowers and the weather is almost always good. The light and sun help us to recharge our batteries. So spontaneously book a flight for a long weekend here on the islands. Escape the gloomy weather back home. Get a few online tips and bring your IbizaNOW for all the information you need to make a mini-holiday the best it can be, here on the islands. We’re certain you won’t regret escaping the terrible weather up north. We promise!