An early Easter holiday provides a nice jumpstart for tourists beginning their yearly treks.
Easter is a popular time for travel. People love getting out and being able to enjoy the sun after several months of winter. Several people choose Florida as their Easter-time destination because of the warmer climate.
Easter is always celebrated the second Sunday after the Paschal Full Moon. The holiday is usually in early April and provides a break for students as well as working adults. However, in 2008, Easter was on March 23 and provided an earlier spring break than usual. To many people around the world, Easter marks the beginning of spring. It is also one of the most travelled holidays. An early start to spring means an early start for tourism.
During Easter 2008, the British airports for example saw a dramatic rise in business. Manchester airport alone saw more than 200,000 travellers over the holiday weekend. In the London area another 400,000 departed from Heathrow, 250,000 from Gatwick, 170,000 from Stansted and 60,000 from Luton. An estimated 2 million Brits had big holiday plans. Most travellers were either headed to the mountains for skiing or to the Spanish islands for sunbathing.
Scotland saw a big winter freeze over the Easter holiday weekend. Many Scots booked flights to warmer locales to escape the freezing weather for the weekend. Some of the most popular destinations for Scots escaping unfavourable weather were Dubai, Alicante and Tenerife. Those who decided to stay home for the Easter weekend were advised to bundle up and stay warm.
For those passengers seeking sunshine, the Balearic and Canary Islands were very popular destinations. Some chose to go further abroad and ventured to Florida in the USA. Most airlines reported holiday flight schedules sold out for the holiday weekend.
The Canary Islands have a lot to offer the winter-weary traveler looking for a nice beach to hang out on. They are located just north of the Western Sahara desert in Africa and southwest of Spain and Portugal. The flight from England is only a few short hours and very worth the time spent. The Canary Islands consist of seven large islands, two smaller islands and several islets. The climate is perfect nearly year round with more than 300 days of sunshine per year.
Tenerife, is the largest and perhaps most visited of the seven large islands. It has a surface area of 2,034 km. (785 sq. mi.) and a population of fewer than 1 million. It is a very well-known and highly sought-after holiday destination, especially for Brits.
Many resorts and country clubs on Tenerife offer a variety of sporting events, including golf, squash and tennis. Diving is very popular among visitors because of the crystal clear waters and abundance of marine life. Other water sports are also very popular on Tenerife. Several of the resorts and country clubs on the island also have first class golf courses.
In order to please more visitors, Tenerife opened a new water park in April. The enormous water park is only the beginning of improvements and additions to the island for 2008. The park is the largest water park on the Canary Islands and features Siamese themes. The park cost an impressive 52 million Euros to construct. Some of the rides include The Volcano, The Dragon, Wave Palace and Jungle Snake.
One of Siam Park's largest attractions is the Jungle Snake: four water slides that follow the park's terrain. The Lost City, a play area with 120 fun and exciting games, is expected to receive rave reviews, especially from smaller children. To add to the fun there is a sea lion pool near the park's main entrance and a fully equipped amphitheater.
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