Ixia is a resort that caters to everyone whether you are looking for luxury or going away on a budget. There is something for everyone in the resort and a number of excursions to enjoy. The transfer time for Ixia is around 25-35 minutes meaning you have just enough time to look around at surrounding scenery as well as gain a slight understanding of the location of the resort and the location of your accommodation within the resort. The beach at Ixia is long and covered in sand leading down to the waters edge. You will find a number of sunbeds and parasols available as well as a number of water sports. Ixia has all types of accommodation available, such as de luxe hotels, self-catering apartments and basic accommodation. The hotels are mainly 2-5-stars and offer half-board or all-inclusive.

Ixia – plenty of beach based activities to enjoy

Ixia is home to a good beach with a range of water sports available. The water sports available to you include windsurfing, surfing, scuba diving, snorkelling, jet-skiing, water-skiing, paragliding, going on boat trips and swimming. A trips to Rhodes Town is very popular as there is a lot of shopping and sightseeing to be done in the area. There is also a brilliant Greek evening that is very popular among both tourists and locals. Lindos is a popular place to visit with the ancient acropolis and a full island tour comes highly recommended as it gives you the chance to look around the resort and visit different beaches and areas. The water park in Faliraki is must see for families, couples and groups of singles as it offers brilliant rides, slides and swimming pools.

Ixia – large choice of restaurants available

Ixia has a brilliant choice of restaurants available with a range of cuisines on offer. The favourite cuisine is the traditional Greek cuisines as well as a lot of seafood. If you prefer something different then you will find a number of French restaurants as well as Italian and a number of steak houses. There is plenty of fast food for you to enjoy which you will find familiar. When it comes to nightlife, the resort is quite good with a number of bars and discos to choose from. You will find live music and entertainment in a number of the bars. Apart from mini markets and supermarkets the only other real shops you will find will be souvenir shops. There is a frequent bus service into Rhodes Town and there are also a number of taxis available in the area.

Ixia – long hot Mediterranean summers

Ixia enjoys a Mediterranean climate of very long and hot summers. July and August are the hottest months in the resort with an average temperature of 25°C although this commonly rises to highs of well over 30°C. May is the official start to the summer with temperatures at 21°C which quickly rises to 25°C by June. There is normally no rainfall over July and August and the evenings remain hot at highs of 22°C. July and August see 12 hours of sunshine a day which drops to around 5 hours a day in the winter. Spring and Autumn are pleasant times to come if you are not keen on very hot weather, with temperatures mostly ranging between 16-20°C. Winters tend to be mild in Ixia with temperatures staying at around 10°C. Between October and May you can expect to see some rainfall but not to the extent that we are used to. December if the wettest month in Ixia however it still tends to remain fairly warm.

The new service provides travellers with tens of thousands of author reviews and recommendations written by Lonely Planet’s 360 authors around the world. From backpacker hostels in Adelaide to boutique designer hotels in Zurich, travellers can evaluate properties and book securely online with Expedia and Hostelworld.com.

“Combining the vast number of Lonely Planet’s author accommodation reviews with the depth of inventory provided by Expedia and Hostelworld is a real win for our travellers. They get trusted advice, great pricing and wide availability in one easy to use website” explains Troy Suda, Lonely Planet’s Global Head of Hotels & Emerging Online Business.

For the new service, Lonely Planet looked globally for partners where there was strong alignment between Lonely Planet’s author reviews and the bookable properties of prospective partners.

“Lonely Planet has built its business on the quality of its author reviews and recommendations, and we’re delighted to be partnering with a company that is as renowned in its field as Expedia is,” said Tamer Tamar, Vice President and Managing Director for Expedia Distribution.

“Partnering with a company such as Lonely Planet further demonstrates Expedia Distribution’s white labelling expertise and commitment to broadening the base of partners we work with in the travel arena. We have developed a tailored offering for Lonely Planet that is perfectly in tune with its users’ needs and utilises our world class hotel product,” said Tamar.

Lonely Planet’s authors travel the globe reviewing accommodation options covering the needs of all travellers, hence two partners were selected to provide bookable properties across a wide range of destinations and accommodation types.

Feargal Mooney, CEO of Hostelworld.com added “As the leading provider of online reservations to the budget accommodation sector our hostel coverage is the biggest in the world. This partnership builds on the long-standing relationship between Hostelworld.com and Lonely Planet and enables us to leverage the independent and authoritative reviews of the world’s most experienced and trusted travel writers, further enhancing the customer experience and creating a service unlike any other.””

The service is available now at lonelyplanet.com/hotels.

England World Cup winner and Lions Rugby star, Will Greenwood MBE, today launched easyJet’s in-flight collection campaign for leukaemia charity, The Anthony Nolan Trust. Throughout the summer, easyJet cabin crew will be asking passengers to donate any loose change to support the charity.

This will be the third year that easy Jet passengers will be asked to donate their loose change and the continuation this year will help save hundreds of lives throughout Europe. easyJet has already raised an incredible £1.3 million in total for The Anthony Nolan Trust after carrying out on board collections during the summers of 2006 and 2007.This funding has enabled the charity to recruit approximately 18,000 new lifesaving donors to the bone marrow register.

The Anthony Nolan Trust saves lives by providing bone marrow donors to adults and children in need of transplants. Last year, The Anthony Nolan Trust saved the lives of over 600 men, women and children who might have otherwise died. However, currently 16,000 patients worldwide are searching for a suitable donor and to give these patients a chance of life the charity urgently needs to fund the recruitment of thousands of new donors.

Three year old Aila Ahmed is one such patient desperately looking for a donor. Aila was diagnosed with aplastic anaemia late last year. Her parents have been told that a bone marrow transplant is her only chance for long term survival, but because Aila is of mixed race, finding a donor whose tissue type matches Aila’s is proving difficult. As her mother, Shazia said:

“My whole life changed in a matter of seconds – I cannot tell you how painful it is. When your child says: “Mama, will you be with me forever?” What can you say? This can happen to anyone regardless of race, class, education. None of the searches have found a match for Aila so far. We are absolutely desperate.”

Rugby hero Will Greenwood, who was a key member of England’s victorious 2003 Rugby World Cup winning squad, commented at the launch: “I’ve long been a supporter of the Anthony Nolan Trust because I know how vital the charity’s work is. Without the work of this organisation many thousands of people around the world simply wouldn’t be here today. I’m very proud to be able to continue to support their work and I’d encourage everyone to do the same - you simply never know when you or a family member might really need them.”

As an independent charity The Anthony Nolan Trust continues to rely on the financial support of companies like easyJet to continue their lifesaving work.

easyJet on board collections will take place on all flights starting on July 14th through to September 26th 2008, highlighting the work of The Anthony Nolan Trust to passengers and encouraging them to donate spare change. A proportion of the money raised will be given to other bone marrow registers in Europe.

Andy Harrison, easyJet’s Chief Executive said:

“Once again we are very pleased to be working with such an important life-giving charity. We know that the spare change generously donated by our passengers over the last two years has already helped save lives throughout Europe. This year we’re hoping to raise an even greater sum to provide even more support for the fantastic work of the Anthony Nolan Trust.”

BAA Scotland, which owns and operates Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow airports, said any additional marketing support for the airline industry was welcome, particularly at a time of rising fuel prices.

Responding to the report published today by the Scottish Parliament’s Economy, Energy and Tourism Committee, Gordon Dewar, managing director of Glasgow and acting MD of Edinburgh airport, said:

“Aviation is an integral part of the social and economic life of our country, delivering thousands of high quality jobs, generating investment and sustaining our tourist industry, now, more than ever, the lifeblood of our economy.

“We have made it clear that we believe there is a strong case for some form of EU-compliant marketing support fund and argued strongly for this in our evidence to the committee. Since 2002 BAA Scotland has invested in excess of £110 million in route development support for airlines starting new direct international services. This work has transformed Scotland’s international connectivity. We would welcome any additional support which builds on this success for the benefit of business and leisure travellers.

“The worldwide airline industry is entering a difficult phase, with many carriers reducing capacity or scaling back expansion plans as a result of rising fuel prices and the impact of the credit crunch. We are working hard to support our airlines, in partnership with organisations such as VisitScotland and Glasgow City Marketing Bureau. Any additional support would be welcome.”

The new Sofia route which will commence on 11 December and the new Geneva route on 12 December.

Both Geneva and Sofia are particularly popular destinations with winter sports enthusiasts, as they are the gateway airports to the many nearby ski resorts in the French / Swiss Alps and resorts such a Bansko and Pamporovo in the Pirin Mountain range.

The nine times weekly service to Geneva will not only provide access to some of the world’s most famous ski resorts, the route is also expected to become a vital business link between the two cities. Whilst the three times weekly service to the Bulgarian capital, Sofia, is ideal for the growing number of second home owners from the region investing in the Bulgarian market, Sofia itself is one of the up and coming city break destinations for 2009.

The addition of these two new routes will bring the number of destinations served by easyJet from Manchester to seven. This announcement follows the recent news that the airline will also launch a new service from Manchester to Alicante this winter from 29 September, reflecting the airline’s commitment to its new base at Manchester International Airport.

Carly Brear, easyJet’s UK commercial manager, said:

“These two new routes from Manchester are further proof that there is demand for direct low-fare services from the North West to Europe. Geneva has proved an extremely popular destination from all across the UK and it’s great that we can now replicate that success from Manchester. The Bulgarian capital, Sofia, is also expected to be popular as more people discover what the city and its surrounding areas have to offer”

Tim McDermott, Director of Aviation Development said:

“We’re delighted to see easyJet continuing to expand their route network from Manchester Airport. Sofia and Geneva are important business and leisure destinations and we are sure they will prove to be incredibly popular with our passengers”.