Getting To Know Lanzarote

Getting to know a holiday destination before a first visit is increasingly easy today, watching videos or visiting an exhibition or display about an island like Lanzarote is useful for example to see which resort might suit your style of holiday best - but it is important to remember that some promotions are just that - they are just selling a holiday and will highlight only the destination's positives.

Many tourist boards and organisations including Spain and her islands attend annual travel and tourism shows worldwide to showcase their holidays. Apart from having brochures and flyers, many stands have videos and live presentations. Visitors also have the opportunity to talk to representatives of the country. This allows them to get some of their questions answered direct.

Many top holiday spots use these exhibitions to sell the locations to possible visitors and most countries realise the importance of having a stand at a travel exhibition.

Some major travel shows that provide a piece of the travel destination for visitors to sample are:

The Times Destination Travel Show in London Earls Court

International Travel & Tourism Mart

World Travel Market

Indian Travel & Tourism Mart

Maldives Hotel & Trade Exhibition

ITB Berlin

Many display areas include:

Stands with foods which allow visitors to the exhibition to see and even taste cuisine of the country or region.

Arts and crafts that are sometimes sold or given away as tokens.

The music of the country playing in the background.

Displays of cultural dances.

It is important to be aware that only the very best features of countries represented at these exhibitions will be on show. Despite this, the images and items shown usually accurately reflect the offerings of the regions or countries.

Gran Canaria, one of the Canary Islands, is a premier holiday destination. Like other tourism organizations in the world, Gran Canaria's tourism board displays the island's many amazing features at travel shows. One such event was The Times Destination Travel Show in London Earls Court in March 2009.

The beautiful island is known for its beaches and great sightseeing opportunities. Gran Canaria is often referred to as the Miniature Continent. It earned this name because of its diverse climate and environment. Few countries in the world have the variety of natural habitats and climatic range of the island.

Nature lovers will want to visit Gran Canaria's Cueva Pintada or Painted Caves. This well-known archaeological park situated in Galdar contains many geometric paintings. They are believed to have been created by the now extinct Guanche, the first inhabitants of the Canary Islands. To preserve the caves and its contents visitors can only look inside through a protective glass. This does little to distract from the novelty of the experience.

Unlike many vacation spots worldwide, gay tourists can feel at home in Gran Canaria. The Playa del Ingles region has a number of businesses, clubs and restaurants that cater to same sex couples. This makes the island popular with holidaymakers from Europe.

Another Canary Island is Lanzarote - declared a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO in 1993, Lanzarote has some of the most visually striking landscape anywhere. The whole island can be explored on foot, horseback or bike.

Attending a travel and tourism exhibition is a great way to get a feel of various travel destinations. They provide a great opportunity to ask questions of natives of a place you would like to visit, like for instance Lanzarote.