Category: Europe

Ah, Tahiti! Lush vegetation swaying in balmy ocean breezes, glittering aquamarine waters, white-sand beaches, and some of the best diving and snorkeling in the world.

It’s an uncontested fact that a Tahiti vacation is one of the most romantic, relaxing getaways in the world.

Tahiti? Why not?
But if a Tahiti getaway is so fabulous, why aren’t more people doing it?

“People constantly tell us that visiting Tahiti is on their bucket list, but they feel it’s too far away and only a once-in-a-lifetime trip,” says Daniele Venuti, Hilton French Polynesia Director of Sales & Marketing.

In reality, Tahiti, which is just an 8-hour, non-stop flight from Los Angeles, is a shorter hop for West Coast travelers than most Caribbean islands. And in fact, the flight is only a few hours longer than one to Hawaii.

Cost, too, is often cited as a deterrent by travelers considering a Tahiti getaway. For a limited time, however, the question of cost has been rendered moot.

Tahiti Vacation Package, From $2,599

Islands in the Sun, a leading South Pacific wholesaler, is offering a six-day package starting from just $2,599. Five nights, six days, and oh yeah, international airfare.

“We put this package together to take the guesswork out of booking your stay – including some important essentials – and to prove that  it is far easier to disappear into the magic of Moorea  than you think,” said Venuti.  “Why wait to celebrate the South Seas together in style.”

Islands in the Sun, one of the first wholesalers to “discover” Tahiti back in the ’60s, created this package, which includes a four-night stay at the award-winning Hilton Moorea Lagoon Resort & Spa, international airfare from LAX on Air Tahiti Nui, daily breakfast, with a variety of in-country extras, including a local Lagoon Excursion.

Hilton Moorea Lagoon Resort & Spa

Uniquely Local

The Hilton Moore Lagoon Resort & Spa offers guests a variety of free cultural activities daily, including cooking classes, kayak racing and lei-making.

On Tuesdays and Fridays, the hotel hosts free, one-hour Marine Conferences led by area marine specialists.

The Hilton Moorea, located between the mountains and the sea, with its own private, white-sand-fringed, ten-acre lagoon, was recently named one of Trip Advisor’s Top 5 Resorts for Romance in the World.

Arguably best resort location on the heart-shaped island of Moorea, the 10-year-old Hilton Moorea teems with Polynesian “mana,” or spirit, is just a 30 minute ferry ride from French Polynesia’s capital city of Papeete.

The package includes accommodation in a thatched roofed garden bungalow with a private plunge pool, but guests can also opt to upgrade to one of French Polynesia’s famous overwater bungalows, starting from $499.

Like all good things, these rates won’t last forever, and travelers must book by Nov. 23, 2014.

Package Details

The package includes:

• International airfare from LAX on award-winning Air Tahiti Nui
• 1 night in a deluxe Ocean View room at Radisson Plaza Resort Tahiti
• 4 nights in a Garden Pool Bungalow at Hilton Moorea Lagoon Resort & Spa
• Daily American breakfast
• Moana Lagoon excursion with a Motu picnic lunch on Moorea
• A complimentary Black Pearl Pendant (one per couple)
• Round-trip inter-island transportation by ferry
• Meet & greet and flower lei upon arrival
• Departure assistance, including a shell lei
• All transfers and baggage handling
• Airline and hotel taxes
• Honeymooner bonus: A small bottle of Champagne upon arrival in Moorea
• Optional: Upgrade your stay in Moorea to an Overwater Bungalow, starting from $499.

Hilton Moorea Lagoon Resort & Spa
www.hilton.com/frenchpolynesia

Islands in the Sun
www.islandsinthesun.com/hiltonmoorea

After spending much of their lives chasing the American dream, workers are starting to eyeball foreign lands when it comes to their defining their retirement plans.

So what are the best places to retire? Algarve, Portugal is the world’s top retirement destination for 2014, according the Annual Global Retirement Index.

At the recent Retire Overseas Conference in Nashville, Tenn. more than 400 people heard about the list’s leading destinations and details for international relocation.

Algarve was new to No. 1 spot on the list and the designation can be in part attributed to the fact that Portugal passed legislation allowing retired expats to be free of income tax in 2012.

Add to that great weather and 42 golf courses in the region and that a retired couple could live comfortable on $1,500 per month in Portugal.

In 2013 Portugal placed No. 11 on the Retirement Index. Portugal took over the top spot from Ecuador, a country that has received the highest ranking for many years.

Cuenca, Ecuador garnered the No. 2 spot followed by George Town, Malaysia; Chiang Mai, Thailand; Dumaguete, Philippines; Pau, France and Medellin, Colombia.

“There’s no one best place to retire overseas; no one place is right for everyone,’’ said Kathleen Peddicord, organizer of the conference and publisher of Live and Invest Overseas. “That’s why we rate the top destination around the world, each for its own reasons.’’

Contributing factors to the rating: climate, cost of living, entertainment, environmental conditions, health care, infrastructure, real estate, residency options, existing expat community, safety, taxes and English spoken.

Nine other countries from the Americas placed on the index: Ambergris Caye, Belize; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Cayo, Belize; City Beaches, Panama; Granada, Nicaragua; La Serena, Chile; Medoza, Argentina; Puerto Vallarta, Mexico and Samana, Dominican Republic.

Two destinations from Asia made the list Istanbul, Turkey and Nha Trang, Vietnam. And three in Europe: Abruzzo, Italy; Barcelona, Spain and Istria, Croatia.

The Retire Overseas Index is published by Live and Invest Overseas. The company is an overseas investment, real estate and retirement resource.

Interested in retiring overseas? Read about several international destinations actively seeking American retirees.

Live and Invest Overseas
www.liveandinvestoverseas.com

More than 30 million people visited Barcelona last year. This is a number most tourism boards would kill for, but for Barcelona, it’s a big problem.

The city, which welcomes nearly as many visitors each month as it has residents, is facing a variety of challenges many of which are directly affected by unrestricted tourism.

Among them are rising property values and a stretched-to-the-max city infrastructure that is funded by locals but used to support tourists.

The rising property values says Barcelona’s mayor Ada Colau—the city’s first female mayor—were at the heart of the Spain’s financial crisis. Thousands of residents found they were no longer pay their mortgage or afford rent and many were evicted.

In fact, before politics, Colau was an anti-eviction activist who eventually ran for mayor on a platform that promised to crackdown on out-of-control visitor numbers.

Her campaign platform included promises to reduce visitor numbers put a hold on the development of new hotels and to increase tourism taxes.