Morocco: From PowerPoint to pomegranates

Simon Calder’s Travel Week [The Independent]( October 14, 2022 [View in browser](   [The Independent]( [The Independent]( The Abta Travel Convention is a key annual fixture for the industry of human happiness. As autumn deepens, the UK’s travel agents and tour operators shrewdly decamp south, flying to a welcoming land of intense beauty and culture. Mellow fruitfulness: In Morocco, barrows are piled high with pomegranates, daubing the streetscapes with scarlet This year the host is Morocco. The streets and souks of Marrakech are alive with colour and clamour, with a million merchants charming snakes or dispensing tasty treats. Yet for a couple of precious days beneath African skies, the British travel industry gathers in an airless conference centre to study graphs on PowerPoint slides. Some of the charts this week looked cautiously optimistic. Even though the UK's own Covid travel restrictions dragged on until mid-March, holiday numbers for the year to August 2022 were only 30 per cent down on pre-pandemic levels. A survey of 2,000 adults found that people [were more likely to cut back on dining out or new clothes before they would reduce their outlay on holidays](. Yet the summer’s "flight roulette" – with [thousands of airline cancellations to and from UK airports]( – has created deep anxiety. PwC asked a different set of 2,000 consumers to name their biggest barriers to international travel at the moment. Top worry: flight cancellations. In third place: airport delays. Fifth: concern about securing a refund if the flight is grounded. Aviation nightmares rank even ahead of economic alarm, with “cost of holidays” second most worrying, and “concern about household finances” in fourth place. The slightly temperamental wifi connections here in Morocco have a silver lining: they suppress the full horror of the political and economic psychodrama unfolding in Westminster, culminating in the chancellor's sudden flight back from Washington DC. Evidence arrives instead in the flickering digital displays of exchange rates outside the bureaux de change. By Thursday evening, my pounds were buying fewer Moroccan dirhams than when I arrived on Monday. Yet history shows that we will still find a way, and the wherewithal, to travel. Mark Tanzer, who has, poor chap, served as chief executive of Abta for the last 17 turbulent years, says of the pandemic: “Where perhaps we took for granted unimpeded international travel, we now know what a precious gift that is.” [Listen to Simon Calder's exclusive interview with Abta boss Mark Tanzer]( It was with those words resonating that I found a side door out of the conference venue, headed for the station and boarded the 2.50pm express train from Marrakech to Casablanca. Here on the Atlantic coast, 150 miles from the conference venue, it happens to be the height of pomegranate season. Barrows are piled high with the fruit, daubing the streetscapes with scarlet. A season of mists and mellow fruitfulness. And, for the traveller, joy.   [Get inspired...]( [Ticket to ride]( How to try Spain's free train travel scheme as a tourist [I'm an image]( [Hike, hot tub, repeat]( The best Lake District hideaways for a bit of spa soothing [I'm an image]( [Colour me happy]( Could creating art on holiday help with stress, grief or burnout? Tip of the week: Ryanair’s online shutdown Every hour, on average, 20,000 people check in online for Ryanair flights – as the airline requires, to avoid paying extra at the airport. But for nine hours next Wednesday night, the airline’s website and app will close down: from 8pm (UK/Irish time) on 19 October to 5am on 20 October. Ryanair says: “Customers who are due to fly during this nine-hour period should check-in online before 6pm on Wednesday 19 October.” [The mysterious case of Ryanair flight 4978, forced to divert to Minsk last year](   Deal of the week: Tyne to the sun for half-term Tui has some remarkable bargains for departure from Newcastle on Sunday 23 October – which for many families is the first weekend of the October half term. Flying to Menorca, with a week in Cala'n Forcat, costs just £197 per person for a family of four. The price includes flights with baggage, transfers and accommodation sharing a one-bedroom apartment. [The best of Menorca, Spain's most easterly island](   Question of the week: Sightseeing before a big game in Lyon Q We have tickets for Wales v Australia in the Rugby World Cup next September in Lyon. What should we do all day before the game at 9pm? A The biggest tournament in the men’s game kicks off in Paris on 8 September 2023, when France play New Zealand at the Stade de France. The same ground will host the final on 28 October. Matches are taking place in several great host cities, including Nice, Toulouse – and Lyon. Pacing the streets of Lyon is rewarding in itself: the city has around 200 murals, adding colour and style. Take the funicular railway to the top of Fourvière hill – with a terrace that, on a fine day, will give you a glimpse of the French Alps. Explore the extravagant basilica, Notre Dame de Fourvière, and visit the nearby vast Roman theatre. Then return to river level and explore some of the traboules, alleys that are a Lyonnais speciality: they feel like secret passages between the main streets. Later, before heading to the match, fill up at the magnificent Brasserie Georges; this vast dining hall close to Perrache railway station has been a city institution for almost two centuries. Got a full 48 Hours in Lyon? Here's how to spend it]( STAT OF THE WEEK 10 Time, in minutes, that a family of four British holidaymakers in a car could take to get through French passport control under the post-Brexit EU Entry-Exit System – due to take effect in 2023. At present the figure is 90 seconds. Doug Bannister, chief executive of the Port of Dover, this week warned MPs that new biometric checks to which the UK chose to become subject could lead to “[significant and continued disruption](”. What you might have missed... - Move on up: [Delta awards an upgrade to the best departure gate dancer]( - Sunny skies: [easyJet made over £6m a day in profit this summer]( - On track: [Avanti West Coast says rail disruption should be over by Christmas]( SIMON'S DIARY       Every day from Monday to Friday I tackle a top travel story, or explore a topic in more detail than usual in ‘Simon Calder's Independent Travel Podcast’ – available free on [Spotify](, [Apple Podcasts](, [Pocket Casts]( or [Acast](.         Every day from Monday to Friday I tackle a top travel story, or explore a topic in more detail than usual in ‘Simon Calder's Independent Travel Podcast’ – available free on [Spotify](, [Apple Podcasts](, [Pocket Casts]( or [Acast](.         I find the easiest way to rush out stories is to tweet them. It’s also an easy way to contact me. My direct messages are open and I read all DMs, though regrettably I can’t respond to every one. Let me know your thoughts [@SimonCalder](         I find the easiest way to rush out stories is to tweet them. It’s also an easy way to contact me. My direct messages are open and I read all DMs, though regrettably I can’t respond to every one. Let me know your thoughts [@SimonCalder](         Each Saturday and Sunday I take questions live at 5.30pm British time on Instagram Live – from wherever I happen to be in the world – so please do come and say hello. Follow me on [@Simon_Calder](         Each Saturday and Sunday I take questions live at 5.30pm British time on Instagram Live – from wherever I happen to be in the world – so please do come and say hello. Follow me on [@Simon_Calder](         Or you can find me on TikTok. Come and have a look at what I have been up to as I bring you top travel topics and report on the latest changes in a minute or less via [@caldertravel](         Or you can find me on TikTok. Come and have a look at what I have been up to as I bring you top travel topics and report on the latest changes in a minute or less via [@caldertravel](   INDYBEST / [TRAVEL BEST BUY]( [10 best sleeping bags for camping, festivals and trekking adventures]( From kids’ options to cocoons for two, these will ensure the happiest of campers. [Click here for the full list](   Essential reading [Why a rubbish hotel can be a gift from the travel gods](   Articles available exclusively to subscribers [Nine spectacular Unesco World Heritage hopefuls worth a visit](   OTHER NEWSLETTERS YOU MIGHT LIKE [Race Report] The Race Report Fortnightly, 7am (UK time) Written by Nadine White [Join now]( [Health Check] Health Check Every Thursday, 7am (UK time) Written by Rebecca Thomas [Join now]( If you can spare a minute we’d love your [feedback]( on our newsletters. 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