2. Devalued hols
LESLIE ADRIAN
Back in the summer, travel agents were told to plan on the assumption that the basic' holi- day allowance for the year November l967- October 1968 would again be f50. What they were naturally not told was that in most coun- ' tries where they do business they would have to pay, as a result of devaluation, about 17 per cent more for the services provided. The administrative difficulties this has caused are reflected in the colourful brochures which have been raining through my letter-box since before Christmas.
Some make no reference to devalua- tion. Some contain a simple stop press announcing that certain prices are subject, to change. Some include a stuck-in or stapled-in slip which indicates the size of the devaluation surcharges. Some enclose a supplement giving new prices in detail. Some' say they are en- closing such a supplement but don't. These promotional confusions are doubtless being sorted out even as I write. Meanwhile, from such firm information as I have collected, it seems that the leading package holiday com- panies are doing their damnedest to minimise the effect on the public of increased costs. Unless you are or feel flat broke, you should still be able to manage one modes( holiday this year outside the sterling area.
Just when you take it depends on taste and :Convenience, so don't be over-persuaded #y the heavy concentration of current travel features on high summer. My own definition of a holi- day is to opt out of all but the barest minimum of mental and physical activity. But this dis- position does not dictate the season. One can doggedly decline to read anything but who-
dunits whatever the time of year, and there is no more obligation to ski' when in the Alps than there is to swim when on the Riviera. (At one Swiss resort it is officially calculated that 40 per cent of the visitors don't ski, and was it not Arnold Lunn himself who coined the phrase 'mannequin skier' to describe those ex- quisitely dressed winter resorters who don't or can't?) A second personal preference—which I commended to you here three months ago— is to avoid the congestion and expense of peak months. This again is a tip which applies as well to the mountains as to the coasts. Just as there are seaside resorts where you can cut your basic expenses by 10 to 15 per cent by going in late May or late September, so genuine and mannequin skiers alike may be enticed by economy rates away from the overcrowded New Year, February and (in the higher places) Easter.
The snag, of course, is that between 65 and 75 per cent of us cannot act freely in this matter. We are constrained, not merely by habit, but by employment conditions and school terms from holidaying in less cenven- tional months. School terms, indeed, have taken on a special significance since the return of exchange control regulations. As each child, like each adult, is entitled to £50 worth of foreign currency and £15 in sterling notes, Robert Benchley's nice quip ('there are two classes of travel—first class, and with children!) has been turned on its head. What is now ideally re- ' quired, if one is to have• both the advantages of off-peak seasons and the maximum pool of financial resources, is to be accompanied by such an army of children—below the age of five—as Gladys Aylward transported across the Yellow River. However, to take small children travelling abroad, even in less dramatic cir- cumstances, demands a degree of heroism to which we cannot all aspire.
If, then, you are unable to multiply your £65 exchange-plus-sterling allowances, you must endeavour to stretch them. One way to do this is to buy everything you think you are going to need before you arrive. Which? was talking specifically about summer holidays when it ad- vised its readers to stock up on such items as toothpaste, tissues, stomach settlers, soap powder, anti-sunburn preparations, films and paperbacks, and to buy dutyffree cigarettes etc on the outward journey. But for those of you who fancy the ski slopes between now and Easter, the same sort of list is equally useful —with some important additions. Don't find yourself wasting foreign currency on polaroid glasses, waterproof mitts, woolly hats or ski socks; and remember that snowproof trousers, anoraks and boots can all be hired (for ex- ample, from Moss Bros.) as well as bought in this country rather than abroad Skis, too, if you don't mind the trouble of getting them out.
. At what point we shall cease having to exer- cise all this barrel-scraping ingenuity I do not presume to prophesy. The official promise is 'as soon as the balance -of payments allows.' In factthe total saving on the balance of pay- ments is small and much of it is being whittled away by the dodges of the unscrupulous. But, since American tourists are now being threat- ened with financial indignities, who are we to complain?
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