On the 12th February 2012, in Lanzarote’s Playa Blanca, the third Vuelta Playa Blanca handbike race will take place.

One of the most important sporting events of this type in the world, the event will feature more than 70 contestants from around the world to compete at the highest levels of the sport. Amongst them will be Sands Beach Resort sponsored athlete and very good friend, Rafa Botello.

Sands Beach Resort proudly sponsors Rafa, founder of the Push With Me slogan which, through its branded sports wear, supports organizations such as TriWWW who are working with athletes with disabilities. With the aim of helping everyone to achieve their own personal potential, Rafa uses his own popularity, his branded sportswear, his hard work and his influence to help others to look and feel good so that they perform well in their chosen sport. A highly accomplished athlete himself, Rafa will be amongst the 70 contestants at the Vuelta Playa Blanca, and Sands Beach Resort will be there to cheer him, and all the athletes, on to the finish.

On Saturday 11th February, the day before the Vuelta Playa Blanca, the resort will host the First Concentración Cyclista de Lanzarote (Lanzarote Cyclists Group) bike ride from the Hotel H10 Timanfaya Palace to Puerto Marina Rubicón in which cycles of all types will be welcome to join the hand bikers. The event is free but organisers are encouraging everyone to purchase a €3 raffle ticket, the proceeds of which will go to TriWWW.

So whatever your age, ability or bike, head along to Playa Blanca over the weekend of 11th and 12th February and join in the fun, challenges and rewards of helping to create a level playing field for athletes of every ability level.

We hope to see you there

The last stall at the International tourism fair, Fitur 2012 has hardly been taken down and already there’s good news for Lanzarote’s tourist industry coming out of the prestigious event in Madrid.

Lanzarote and Sands Beach Resort might have more of a French flair from February with the island’s tourism minister, Astríd Pérez announcing a direct flight from Paris beginning on 19th of February. She told press that French tour operators Thalasso No1 also were interested in introducing another route during summer months, this time linking Nantes/Lyon with Lanzarote.

As well as the French connection, flying to Lanzarote will get even easier for Scottish holidaymakers when British tour operators Jet2 introduce direct flights from Glasgow from 29th of March. The company already operate flights to Lanzarote from Manchester, Leeds, Newcastle and the East Midlands.

Thanks to demand from people wanting to visit Lanzarote, Jet2 will be increasing seats of flights by 29% over the summer months bringing an estimated 112,300 visitors to soak up some of Lanzarote’s generous sun and hospitality.

According to ASOLAN, the Lanzarote hotelier’s association, occupancy levels in the island’s hotels and apartments averaged a smile-inducing average of 77% during 2011 which, for an island known predominantly for its winter sun, is pretty good going. So what is it that brings visitors to Lanzarote in their droves?

Sunshine. It’s the number one reason why so many northern Europeans flee winter at home and our beautiful island is blessed with it all year round. With the daytime winter mercury rarely falling below 20°C and an average of 7 hours sunshine a day, Lanzarote is a sun-lover’s paradise.

Distance. Within four or so hours flying time of northern Europe, Lanzarote offers all the tropical benefits of a long haul destination, without the long haul.

Safety. Lanzarote lies just 140km off the coast of Africa yet is a thousand miles away from its troubled neighbours. Part of the wholly autonomous Spanish region of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Lanzarote enjoys a safe and laid back lifestyle with a generous sprinkling of ‘amable‘ (friendliness).

Sports. The island’s temperate, year round climate and unique landscape make it the consummate destination for sports enthusiasts. Home to the Lanzarote Ironman triathlon and host to the PWA windsurfing World Tour, Lanzarote has superb facilities and conditions for an energy-sapping choice of air, land and sea based sports.

Landscape. Birth place of the world renowned architect, sculpture and artist César Manrique whose influence ensured Lanzarote’s trademark, uniform white and low buildings, the island’s landscape is truly unique. Black volcanic terraces flashed with the yellow green shoots of vines, and rose quartz volcanoes in ash gray overcoats form a spectacular foreground against the azure Atlantic and sky.

Timanfaya National Park. Born of the longest volcanic eruption in history that, for six years from 1730, tore the island apart, Timanfaya National Park is a magnet for visitors keen to witness the volcanic wonderland where latent intense heat sets dry bushes alight and cooks lunch over one of the world’s only volcanic ovens.

Food and Wine. With 17 bodegas (wine producers) around the island, getting to know Lanzarote’s wines can be a pleasurably time-consuming affair. Coupling the aromatic crispness of a Malvasía Seco with some of the island’s creative cuisine is a favourite local pastime and you’ll find excellent tapas bars in most towns and resorts.

Walking. For those who enjoy pulling on the boots and strapping on the rucksack, Lanzarote offers superb guided walking routes that will take you to volcanic landscapes, palm filled valleys, dramatic cliff tops and tropical islands.

Secret Canary Islands. Lying just a short boat trip off the northern coast of Lanzarote are three islands – the nature reserves of Alegranza and Montaña Clara where Egyptian vultures, Osprey and the beautiful Eleanora falcon comes to nest, and the paradise island of La Graciosa where you can leave your shoes at the shore and collect them on your way home.

Sands Beach Resort. If you still need a reason to holiday on Lanzarote, look no further than Sands Beach Resort where sunshine, sports and fun in the sun combine with beautiful, beach or poolside villas and a tranquil Costa Teguise location to bring you the very best that Lanzarote has to offer.

This week Madrid hosts one of the biggest tourism fairs in Europe, Fitur. The event, held at the Feria de Madrid, lasts from the 18th to 22nd January and is a meeting place for professionals from the world of tourism including hoteliers, tour operators, tourist boards and the travel press. It is also open to members of the public on 21st and 22nd January.

Fitur represents an important date in the tourism calender as it is the place for making contacts with others in tourism and learning and sharing new and successful initiatives to help keep the travel moving forward in its quest to continue meet the demands of ever more sophisticated travellers.

It is essential for those serious about staying at the forefront of developments in the travel industry to attend events like Fitur, which is why Sands Beach Resort is represented by General Manager, Juan Carlos Albuixech at the event.

To keep up to date with Juan Carlos at Fitur follow him on his Twitter account @JCALBUIXECH and to stay genned up on the latest news from Fitur, you can follow what’s happening on the fair’s Twitter account @Fitur_ or via their Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/FeriaFitur

Imagine getting out of bed on a dark and dreary, icy winter morning to face temperatures of around 4C knowing that by lunch time you could be sitting in T-shirt and shorts tucking into tapas of Jamón serrano, crispy fish croquettes, calamari and papas arrugadas (little wrinkled potatoes).

Imagine, as you pull on your clothes as quickly as possible in a bid to keep warm, that by the afternoon you could be stripping down to as little as possible in order to let a warm sun caress your skin.

Imagine, as the dark morning chills you to the bone, that by the time darkness returns you could be sitting on an outside terrace nursing an exotic cocktail and basking in the golden glow of a sublime sunset.

It’s easy for us living in this wonderful climate to forget how privileged we are to enjoy winter weather that can be better than summer weather in some other locations.

Lounging in the sunshine on the golden sand and 20-25C temperatures around the Sands Beach Resort lagoon in January, the very notion that this is winter can seem ridiculous.

And yet this is the reality of what winter in Lanzarote offers. Winter days are long, sunny and perfect for banishing those winter blues by recharging batteries on the beach or around one of the pools in the resort. The temperature in Lanzarote’s sparkling blue seas varies by only a few degrees between winter and summer, making them the perfect playground for exploring the island’s colourful undersea world. A few steps from Sands Beach Resort’s front door and you swap the bars, restaurants and smart villas in Costa Teguise for a quiet rural scene and country tracks that are ideal for exploring on two legs or by two wheels whether you simply like to keep fit when on holiday or are a professional sports-person seeking perfect warm weather, winter training conditions.

And the beauty of this almost perfect winter scene is that you can be part of it within a few hours from wherever you are in Europe. So don’t just imagine it…make it happen. Lanzarote and Sands Beach Resort are waiting to give you a very warm winter welcome.