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9 March 2010 by Tony Wells Thirty years old as a company, Travel à la carte this year marks 25 years of bringing holidaymakers to the Ionian island of Paxos. Those 25 years have seen many changes in the holiday business but, happily, very few on Paxos itself. Travel à la carte was among the first British tour operators to explore Corfu’s tiny neighbour island of Paxos. One or two trail-blazers had rented some old villas there during the 70s but by and large the island’s lack of development, and the difficulty of reaching it (the boat from Corfu to Paxos used to take up to three hours), meant most operators didn’t give Paxos a second glance. But Travel à la carte’s founder, Mary Wells, saw the island’s attractions as soon as she set foot there in 1983. To her eye, Paxos had everything which would appeal to the discerning British traveller and which nearby Corfu, now a main package holiday destination, was in danger of losing: tranquillity, pure seas, unspoilt beaches, freedom from large development and mass tourism, and a true sense of traditional Greek village life. Mary was particularly taken with Loggos, the smallest of Paxos’s three coastal villages, and Travel à la carte has concentrated its programme on Loggos and the surrounding area ever since. And Mary’s foresight has been handsomely rewarded, with Loggos and Paxos remaining firm favourites with the company’s customers throughout the intervening years. Loggos and Paxos have remained such firm favourites despite the vast changes in the travel business over that time. All holiday companies have had to adapt to these changes, triggered by the joint arrival of the internet and the budget airlines, and at Travel à la carte we have not just adapted to change but welcomed it. Our website, launched very early on, has undergone huge expansion in recent years, with many more photographs and much more information available to the visitor. Villas, apartments and cottages, and their locations in or near Loggos, are now much better presented to the user. The visitor to our website can nowadays form a far clearer and more detailed picture of our Paxos accommodation and its setting than was ever possible in the old days of colour brochures. The Travel à la carte site has had to grow for another reason: our Paxos programme continues to expand as well. Several new properties, ranging from pretty cottages for two to large villas with pools, have been added this year, and further properties are to come in 2011. But no matter how much larger our selection of villas and apartments grows, we continue to offer a specialist knowledge second to none. We know all our properties intimately, as we do Loggos and all our Paxos locations, so we can offer the most detailed advice on which villa or apartment will best suit you, the client. In fact we are in the unique position of having our Paxos sales director living on Paxos all year round and doubling, in the season, as our senior representative there. What this means is that the person you discuss your holiday accommodation and travel arrangements with – Chris Griffiths he’s called, by the way – is actually the man who will show you into your accommodation and look after you during your stay. So the likelilhood of his ever misleading you about a property or nearby amenities is nil, as he would have to sort out the problem himself! In addition, with recent innovations on the Travel à la carte Paxos pages, you can now talk to Chris on Paxos as easily as to someone in the UK. You can reach him – and his colleagues on other islands or in the UK office – not just through email or MSN messenger but also through a simple Live Advice facility on our website, which allows Chris and our other staff to answer your questions live as you browse the pages. Villa availability is viewable live online as well and mailshots will keep you informed of special discounts and holiday offers. We also make a point of keeping a close eye on what the airlines are doing, so that we can let you know immediately when Easyjet or other carriers announce their seat sales. The site also features press releases and press coverage relating to Travel à la carte for the year so far. These changes to our sales effort are increasingly appreciated by our many customers, whether new or established. “I cannot speak highly enough of the brilliant level of service from your staff,” one satisfied user has commented. Another described the help and advice they received as “second to none”, while a third told us how nice it was “to do business with such professional people”. Twenty five years on from our original venture on Paxos, we are proud to provide what we consider to be one of the highest levels of service available to travellers to the Greek islands. From your initial enquiry, through all the different stages of research and investigation, to the booking confirmation and then, finally, your holiday itself, we aim to make the whole experience of choosing and taking a holiday on Paxos and our other islands as smooth and complete as possible. And while we may use the very latest technological means to achieve that, you can rest assured that when it comes to the holiday itself, your stay with Travel à la carte on Paxos will be just as restful and relaxing, as free of the pressures of 21st century life, as if you were stepping off the old Camelia boat from Corfu 25 years ago or more.
For
details of
Travel à la carte’s Paxos à la carte programme of holiday villas and
apartments , visit
www.travelalacarte.co.uk or contact Chris
Griffiths (email
chris@travelalacarte.co.uk or tel 0030 26620 31207) or Tony Wells
(email
tony@travelalacarte.co.uk or tel 020 7316 1867).
PAXOS: Please Keep Me Informed: |
PAXOS HOLIDAY Travel a la carte
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