Absolutely Sonja. It wasn't what I expected in a castle which wrong-footed me at first. It's a wonderful way of giving castles a raison d'être that could attract more people into them than just those who enjoy strolling round empty old fortresses.
I walked across Gran Canaria last year whilst devising a new 'slow' holiday, staying at some of the places mentioned. Both Gran Canaria and neighbour, Tenerife suffer from most visitors sticking to the resort areas. The irony is that the most beautiful parts of the islands are largely ignored in favour of the most arid parts. On the plus side, it does mean that tourist development is confined to a smallish area that wasn't much use to anybody pre-tourism anyway.
Thanks Ellen. I live on an island where cruise liners berth at the capital city, Santa Cruz, every day, yet their passengers are absorbed into the life of the city. If it weren't for the cruises the city would hardly have any visitors, so they are vitally important. If the authorities in Dubrovnik regulated just how many cruise liners could visit at any one time it might make visiting this lovely city a far more enjoyable experience for everyone.
It's a good point Ellen. I do a lot of work a specialist activity company in the UK and the places they use are often small, quirky hotels in out-of-the-way places, even in popular destinations. Specialists are a good way to experience something different from the norm.
I flew Ryanair into Beauvais and stayed there for a night before travelling into Paris the following day. It was alright. Decent accommodation that did a mean steak hache :)
The methodology used is weak so, like many studies used in blogs to support an argument, or not, it means nothing.
I don't have a problem with sponsored posts if they are well written, useful and accurate. I have a mind of my own, I don't need a disclaimer to help me decide what to believe/trust. How well something is written and its authenticity/sincerity tells me that.
I do have a problem with poorly written and badly researched sponsored posts. One of my websites specialises in a popular holiday destination. It's a destination that is featured regularly in sponsored posts on travel blogs; an awful lot of travel blogs... at all levels. Most of these posts are appalling and full of the type of errors that reveal the author hasn't actually visited the place.
Every time I see these posts I'm dismayed and surprised that any reputable travel blogger would post something so poor on their site. Even worse is when a blogger passes it off as their own writing (total madness when something is so bad) and tries to make the reader believe they've been to a destination they haven't.
If I know for a fact a blogger is doing this with one destination, I wonder how many others might they be doing it with?
That's the sort of deception and lack of ethics I don't appreciate. The result is credibility straight out of the window.
I get reduced rates for air travel to certain places because of where I live. Residents of Spain's Canary Islands are entitled to discounted air fairs flying between other islands and to and from mainland Spain. There are a number of reasons for this. Average earnings are low and residents have to travel between islands for work not leisure purposes (although they do that as well). The islands are so far away from away from mainland Spain that it would be prohibitively expensive for residents to travel within their own country - they'd be discriminated against because of geography. So the scales are balanced with resident discounts.
It's easy to see one price for residents and another for visitors as unfair but, as you said in the blog, it's important for travellers to understand why before they criticise.