Over half of UK holidaymakers say that they are planning to take their breaks closer to home this summer, and Blackpool and the West Country are being listed among the top destinations, according to a recent report compiled for the budget hotel chain Travelodge.
A survey was conducted of 3,500 Britons, and found out that 54 per cent intend to take their summer holidays in the UK. Most said that they would be heading to the seacoast, with 13 per cent indicating they would visit Blackpool. Fifteen per cent said that they would be taking their holidays in the south-west.
The managing director of Travelodge, Guy Parsons, said that this was welcome news for the country’s domestic tourism industry. He emphasized, however, that Britain was not doing enough to attract foreign tourists, who should be more likely to visit given the strength of the euro against the pound.
Official statistics show that foreign tourists arrivals dropped by 4.5 per cent in October, as compared with the same month in 2007.
If marketed correctly the UK has the chance to position itself as the top value destination in 2009, he said. With the strong dollar and euro, a trip to London can become an affordable luxury.
Tour operators have already cut back on the number of summer holidays abroad offered for summer 2009, due to decreased demand in the wake of the credit crunch and also the weak pound.
Filed under: cheap flights, main | Tags: flights, news, Thailand, travel, UK
British holidaymakers will find that their pounds stretch further in long-haul destinations such as Thailand and South Africa, according to new research.
A combination of lower living costs and better exchange rates, together with an increase in the number of flight and accommodation deals has made far-flung destinations more affordable to British travellers, according to the Post Office’s Holiday Costs Barometer Survey. 
The survey, which compared the cost of everyday purchases such as evening meals, suncream and a cup of coffee, found that many tourist items were up to 50 per cent cheaper in a selection of long-haul destinations than the eurozone.
Thailand, which topped the poll of affordable destinations, was found to be 41 per cent cheaper than Spain, where a bottle of mineral water was almost three times more expensive than in the Far East. In second place was South Africa, where a bottle of suntan lotion was less than half the price of those in Italy.
Andrew Spice, of Post Office Travel Services, said: “Despite its recent troubles, Thailand remains a great prospect for UK holidaymakers. The Thai baht may have strengthened against sterling but prices remain very low in the country and the discounts now available to top resorts like Phuket and Hua Hin will make Thailand unbeatable value.”
Other countries offering good value to British tourists were Kenya, where a cup of coffee (£2.01) was nearly 40 per cent cheaper than in Greece (£3.26), and Malaysia, where a bottle of beer (£2.56) was 31 per cent cheaper than in France (£3.72).
AIR Traffic limped back to normal on Tuesday at Paris’ main international airport, where thousands of passengers were stranded overnight after heavy snow cancelled scores of flights, officials said.
Air France was forced to cancel 150 of its 400 scheduled flights out of Roissy on Monday due to heavy snowfall.
‘It did not snow last night. The runways are clear and have been de-iced. Traffic is returning to normal,’ said an official at Roissy-Charles de Gaulle airport north of the capital.
Some 3,000 passengers were put up in hotels nearby, but another 2,000 were forced to spend a chilly night in the airport terminal, where they were handed out meal trays and blankets, airport officials said.
Scheduled flights were able to take off and land normally on Tuesday, but were still facing delays due to take-off preparations to remove ice from aircrafts.
Extra flights were to be added throughout the day to help get stranded passengers to their destinations, the official said.
Traffic at Paris’ second airport Orly was operating normally.
Northern, central and western France were hit by snow and freezing rain on Monday, causing mayhem on roads across the country and causing national power consumption to hit an all-time peak.
Weather services are forecasting temperatures will plunge to between minus five and minus 10 Celsius (23 and 14 Fahrenheit), with the cold snap set to last until the middle of the month.
Filed under: airlines news, cheap flights, main | Tags: flights, news, travel
Budget airline Bmibaby is offering up to 50 per cent off all flights booked before midnight on January 13.
Passengers wishing to take advantage of the sale prices must fly by October 24, 2009. The ‘blackout’ periods not included in this latest offer are February 12 to 24, April 2 to 22, April 30 to May 7, May 20 to June 3 and July 16 to September 9. Unlike no-frills rivals such as Easyjet and Ryanair, Bmibaby offers allocated seats on all flights.
Bmibaby operates flights from Aberdeen, Belfast International, Birmingham International, Cardiff, East Midlands, Edinburgh, Glasgow International, Jersey and Manchester.
EASYJET will launch three new routes from Liverpool John Lennon airport this summer, increasing its routes from the city to 22 European destinations.
A new four-days-a-week flight to the Italian city of Naples will commence on June 1.
It will be followed the next day with a route to Dubrovnik, in Croatia, each Tuesday, Friday and Sunday, and a Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday link with France’s great wine region of Bordeaux.
Single fares for Dubrovnik and Naples start from £26.99, including taxes and charges, while the Bordeaux flight will start at £22.99.
