GO PARTY:They've gone through the pressure of the Leaving Cert, so it's natural they want to unwind in the sun. SANDRA O'CONNELLfinds out where this year's school leavers are headed
IN BETWEEN the pressure of the Leaving Cert and the pressure of trying to find a college place, a job or, increasingly, somewhere to emigrate to, there is one brief burst of fun for the modern school leaver.
The “Leaving Certificate Holiday” offers sun, sea and, hopefully, a chance to see what it’s like to be not totally stressed out all the time.
When you think of what they’ve just been through, and what’s ahead of them, who could begrudge them the break, especially now that they’re old enough to pay their own way.
Juan Cullen, manager of LeavingCertHolidays.com, a specialist travel agency, is 31, but still remembers his own post-Leaving Cert break as one of his best holidays ever.
“It’s your first time away without your parents, you’re with all your friends and it’s just fun,” he says.
It’s also exhausting. Contrary to popular perception, students don’t sleep all day and party all night. They don’t sleep at all. “We were out at the first sign of sunlight to get down to the pool. We might have observed the odd siesta but then we were up all night clubbing,” he recalls.
While the post-Leaving Cert break remains popular, the downturn has taken a toll.
“Sales have fallen by 20 to 25 per cent,” says Liam Lonergan, managing director of Budget Travel, now part of Club Travel. It may be that students, like other holidaymakers, are hoping for last-minute bargains. If so they might be disappointed. “These days if there isn’t enough early demand the airlines simply cancel the flights,” he warns.
Those that have yet to book should therefore act sooner rather than later. But where to go? For students the answer is obvious. “There is a herd instinct about it. They all want to go where they think everybody else is going,” says Cullen.
This year, that is Majorca, specifically Magaluf or, as it is known among Leaving Cert students, Shagaluf.
“It’s bigger than Santa Ponsa, the next most popular destination for students in Majorca, there is more to do and it’s better equipped to deal with large groups of travellers,” says Cullen.
It also has the sort of fun activities that student travellers like to think they have grown out of but haven’t, such as waterparks and go-karting tracks.
Nightlife here centres around BCM Square, home to a nightclub of the same name which holds 5,000 people.
Crete is LeavingCertHolidays.com’s second-most popular destination this year, with Malia packing them in with 24-hour venues such as Petrinos. The nearby resort of Hersonissos, though smaller than Malia, has bigger clubs.
Cyprus’s Aiya Napa is still popular, as is Marbella in Spain. In the latter, however, there are a number of factors at work.
“Very many students this year are taking advantage of parents’ villas and apartments on the Costa del Sol, most likely as a result of recession and as a way of saving money,” says Cullen.
“Puerto Banús is a particularly hot spot this year but we have been warning students that it is also one of the most expensive resorts in Europe. On the other hand, parents may be encouraging it because, if they own property there, at least they know their kids are going to know their way around.”
Budget Travel has seen significant growth in interest in Turkey this year, mainly because it offers good value.
“Unlike other destinations which have been hit by cutbacks in airline capacity, Turkey is still well served by flights so it is cheaper to get to and there is always a correlation between students and cheap prices,” says Lonergan.
While media stories of student shenanigans abroad are now as routine as student holidays themselves, the fact is that the vast majority pass off without incident or, at least, without incident that you need to know about.
“Despite parental fears, Leaving Cert holidaymakers tend to be boisterous but well-behaved,” says Cullen.
That said, Tanya Airey, managing director of Holidays Online, part of the Sunway Group, admits to relief that her own Leaving Cert student has decided to go InterRailing around Europe instead.
“There are only seven of them travelling. I think it’s a nicer option than going in a large group to Majorca, which is where all the schools in south Co Dublin seem to be going this year,” says Airey.
Down in Cork, Judy Coughlan of the Travel Cheaper agency, has been organising Leaving Cert holidays for years. She too is facing her first time organising one as a parent. She is, she admits, worried.
“My son and his friends have decided to go to Turkey, which would not have been my first choice for a group of 17- and 18-year-old lads, but I have warned them they will have to behave and, in particular, be respectful of flags, statues and mosques,” says Coughlan.
By a stroke of either luck or good planning, her sister will be in the same resort at the same time as her son. It helps, but only a bit. “I can honestly say, it’s the worst holiday I’ve ever had to book,” admits Coughlan.
State advice
YOU KNOW an event has become institutionalised when a government issues guidelines on it. So it is with Leaving Cert holidays. In a perfect example of not so much the nanny as the mammy state, the Department of Foreign Affairs has a web page devoted to dos and don’ts.
The DFA offers advice about the importance of having travel insurance and of stitching your European Health Insurance Card into the inside of your togs, of photocopying your passport in case you leave it at the bar, and of not keeping all your money in your sock.
It cautions post-exam students to be careful with alcohol, to avoid drugs and not to engage in “horseplay” in the water. Stay with your group, don’t accept lifts from strangers and don’t walk home alone either, it warns. Just stand still until someone comes and gets you, presumably.
In a heartfelt plea no doubt borne of years of consular experience, it urges students to make at least some effort to acquaint themselves with the laws and customs of their destination. Contrary to life in movie land, embassy and consulate staff can’t actually spring you from jail if you are arrested, it points out.
Finally it warns to keep in touch with your family while you are gone. “Please bear in mind that if you do not maintain regular contact with your loved ones or friends, it can cause them significant worry and needless anxiety.”
dfa.ie