For years the orchestra appeared on music cruises run by a French cruise line but they were discontinued after

For years the orchestra appeared on “music cruises” run by a French cruise line, but they were discontinued after the death of the line’s artistic director early this year. Now, strapped for public funding, the ECO has joined forces with a US tour operator to revive the up-market trips. The English Chamber Orchestra has entered the travel business. For years the orchestra appeared on “music cruises” run by a French cruise line, but they were discontinued after the death of the line’s artistic director early this year. Now, strapped for public funding, the ECO has joined forces with a US tour operator to revive the up-market trips.
“We gave up applying for Arts Council grants because the amount allocated to chamber orchestras based in London [£100,000 distributed between at least a dozen groups] is so small, it’s hardly worth it,” said Pauline Gilbertson, one of the orchestra’s directors. “With the record companies in the doldrums, we’ve had to diversify.”The new music tours will be run jointly, with the ECO providing the music and a St Louis travel company handling the arrangements. A cruise from Athens to Istanbul is already sold out, but places are still available on a Caribbean voyage on the SS Wind Spirit from 28 January to 4 February.

It departs from St Thomas in the US Virgin Islands and calls at Tortola, Antigua and Martinique.The tours are not cheap: the best seats for all 11 of the ECO’s London performances this year would cost only £234, compared with $7,420 (£5,300) double occupancy on the Wind Spirit, or $11,130 (£7,950) for single passengers. For that, however, music lovers get the chance to live cheek by jowl with the artists. Apart from two concerts a day, they have access to rehearsals and lectures by a musicologist, as well as meals, shore excursions and an open bar.Passengers enjoy the close contact with the orchestra, according to Ms Gilbertson, who says the Americans “love talking to English musicians”. The orchestra performs at every port of call, in sites ranging from ancient amphitheatres in the Aegean to a disused sugar refinery in the Caribbean.Contact the Leonard Haertter Travel Company (tel: 001 314 721 6200, www.haerttertravel ).. Violence in Israel and the Palestinian territories is forcing travel companies to cancel Holy Land tours at the worst possible time. Mid-September to mid-October, during which the Jewish “High Holy Days” of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur fall, is the prime pilgrimage season, and tourist arrivals remain high during Britain’s autumn half-term. Violence in Israel and the Palestinian territories is forcing travel companies to cancel Holy Land tours at the worst possible time.

Mid-September to mid-October, during which the Jewish “High Holy Days” of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur fall, is the prime pilgrimage season, and tourist arrivals remain high during Britain’s autumn half-term.
“We have cancelled a Holy Land tour that included Jerusalem’s Old City,” said Darren Panto, sales and marketing manager for Peltours, a London-based company specialising in Israel, Egypt and Jordan holidays. “Nazareth and Bethlehem are also pretty much out of bounds right now.” But every day was different, he said, and the company was monitoring the situation closely.Tourism is big business in Israel, with 3 million visitors spending about $3.5bn (£2.3bn) annually. At the moment there are over 200,000 people on holiday in Israel.Travel companies specialising in Israel report that they have had to avoid certain areas in the Holy Land and manoeuvre around closed roads in north Israel. But most have managed to reschedule itineraries rather than calling off tours altogether There had been few cancellations due to unrest.

The Foreign Office is advising travellers on its website that following “serious clashes” between Israelis and Palestinians in several locations, “the potential for further violence remains high”, and visitors should keep in touch with developments in the Middle East.Tourists are specifically warned to avoid Jerusalem’s Old City and “unnecessary journeys” within Jerusalem. Also ruled out are the West Bank and Gaza, specifically Bethlehem, Hebron, Nablus, Ramallah and Gaza. “We also advise against travel to Mount Scopus and the Mount of Olives,” the Foreign Office adds. But Rafi Caplin, managing director of Middle East specialist Longwood Holidays, said most of the places worst affected in this month’s conflict, such as the West Bank and Hebron, attract few holidaymakers.Amnon Lipzin, director of the Israel Government Tourist Office for UK and Ireland, said the majority of British visitors to Israel at this time of year were heading for Eilat and the Red Sea resorts, far from the trouble.