Millennium tours not selling as expected

Travel agencies offer discounts for holiday

destinations

HAMBURG (DPA) -- New Year in the Caribbean? Or the

millennium in Rio? Not too long ago the universal advice

from travel agents was that if you wanted to celebrate in an

exclusive location, you had to book early.

That advice has proved itself patently wrong. Travel agencies still

have offers for almost every taste. In fact, the range of holidays left

unsold has left many agents facing the prospect of never selling

them: it seems that prices in the upper range were just too

ambitious, leaving tour operators no option but to offer them at

cut-price.

Travel agents Meier's World Travel in Duesseldorf, for instance,

has already reduced prices for various overseas holidays over the

New Year.

For example, an allinclusive trip to the Dominican Republic, a

favorite destination for German holidaymakers all year round, for 10

days in a double room per person now costs 3,330 marks ($1,710)

- 400 marks cheaper than the original catalogue price.

Prices for other trips - for example, Thailand or the Maldives - have

also been slashed by 200 marks. Or how about a short stopover in

New York? Sabine Schwarzer at Meier's says that that one's still

hanging around "because we stocked up on contingencies."

Meier's has sold 35 percent more holidays for New Year 2000 than

it did for 1999. And Schwarzer is happy that the company did not

have too many holidays on offer bearing the "2000" label.

Meanwhile, FVW, a Hamburg-based travel-industry magazine,

writes that hotels in gambling paradise Las Vegas still have free

places over the turn of the millennium.

It reports that the desert city's hotels may be enjoying record

sales for 2000 bookings, but there are still plenty of beds still

available. Some hotels, it seems, will even cut their prices. As for

the evening entertainment, FVW says that only the larger events

are booked out.

According to Leonhard Reeb, managing director of the German

Association of Travel Agents (DRV) in Frankfurt, the reason why

many travel agents are finding it difficult to sell many of their

holidays is largely due to the high prices. This, in turn, can be

traced back to the exaggerated demands made by many hotels.