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Holidays

Use our Travel forum for recommendations on everything from day trips to the best family-friendly holiday destinations.

Why do so many holidays revolve around islands?

8 replies

riccup · 01/04/2025 21:45

Any idea? Access to the sea is one big thing, but otherwise why is it that so many holidays destinations are islands?

OP posts:
TheNightingalesStarling · 01/04/2025 22:01

Because they are warm!

The Mediterranean/Aegean
Off the coast of Africa.
The Caribbean.

PollyCreo · 01/04/2025 22:44

It's the whole thing of being surrounded by the sea. The sea is warm, the sea is beautiful. You can look out of your window and see the sea.

Islands are also beautiful and mystical, have you ever been to Crete?

soupyspoon · 01/04/2025 22:45

Canvey Island?
Isle of Sheppey?

That sort of thing?

MorrisZapp · 01/04/2025 22:47

Because there's no through traffic. Just people who want to be on the island. Heaven is Lamlash Bay on Arran.

EdgarAllenRaven · 01/04/2025 23:49

It is also very relaxing to be away from large cities and a busy mainland

PenneyFouryourthoughts · 01/04/2025 23:51

I like a bit if Isle of Wight! Totally retro.

I like a Greek or Spanish island too.

Some islands have microclimates which are advantageous to the holiday maker. Also, many have their own culture.

user1471453601 · 02/04/2025 00:01

Because they are more difficult to get to, compared to the mainland. So those who go there really want to be there?

No idea really. But when I was able to travel my favourite place was an island that I'd spend two months a year on. Heaven.

Hell would have been living there all year round.

samarrange · 02/04/2025 00:01

Islands have a lot of coastline per square kilometre of land, so they are going to have a bigger density of attractive locations to build hotels.

Typically the coastal part of Mediterranean islands was often the least desirable land, until modern tourism was invented. If you drive around Majorca you will see signs commemorating the fact that the road you are on was built by forced labour by prisoners of Franco during the civil war, and most of these are in the south-east, where all the best coves are — but until 1940 there was nothing going on here, which is why there was no decent road until then.

There is an apocryphal story of a farmer on Ibiza who had 5 sons, one of whom was not as bright as the others. When the old man died and the sons divvied up the land, the less-bright one got fobbed off with the bit by the cliffs, which was not good for grazing sheep as they tended to fall off. Then the rich visitors arrived and wanted plots of land overlooking the bay, and he was minted, while the others are still herding sheep.

Also, islands are mostly by definition physically separated to some extent from the main economy of a country. People won't set up major industries there, simply because of shipping considerations. So that means that the island is less spoiled visually (and hence more desirable as a location for tourism), but also the hotels and airports don't have to compete with high-paying unionised manufacturing jobs, so it becomes cheaper to hire people to work there, which makes your holiday cheaper.

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