Holiday News - Direct

Angela Hartnett of the respected Connaught Hotel has offered her expert advice to help people find the best restaurants in Venice.
First of all, she strongly recommends avoiding the restaurants around St Marks Square and anywhere with a menu touristica.
Another useful tip is to visit the Rialto fish market in the morning and have a good […]

Web Certain Service Aug 24, 2007: 6:42 am Edit This | [en]
A survey of customers who have booked holidays through www.holidays-direct.co.uk has revealed that although cost is the most important factor when choosing to book a flight, the option to fly from a local airport is almost as important.
Customers were asked to pick what […]

American Airlines has announced plans for a second daily flight from London to New York.
The daily flights from London Stansted to New York JFK will launch on April 8 2008, following the airline’s launch of its first daily flights on this route on 29 October 2009.
The airline is extending its services from New York JFK […]

More and more people are choosing to take weekend city break holidays, due to the availability of cheap flights to European cities.
Rome and Paris are two of the most popular citybreak destinations for travellers from the UK, says Holidays-Direct.
Prague and Barcelona are also very popular and cities in Eastern Europe and Scandinavia are growing in […]

Yahoo! has discovered that families prefer to take a number of “mini-breaks” each year, but a traditional two-week family holiday is better for stress levels, say experts.
“People tend to have unreasonable expectations of how much they can fit into a short weekend break,” Donna Dawson, an American psychologist told The Independent. “As a result families […]

Despite the poor weather this summer, a new industry report has revealed that Scottish hotels have been outperforming their counterparts in the rest of the UK.
In June, there was 9.6 per cent increase in the room yield across the country, compared with 6.3 per cent across the whole of the UK.
Room prices in hotels in […]

A Marbella hotel is offering free stays for its guests if it rains.
From the beginning of November to the end of February, the luxury Spanish hotel will offer a free night’s stay got every rainy day endured by guests.
This only applies to days where it has rained for three hours or more.
The Winter Sun Guarantee […]

Charlotte Mears, fiance of Tottenham Hotspur footballer Jermain Defoe has teamed up with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to launch the WAG’s guide to travel.
WAGs (wives and girlfriends) have to do a lot of travelling when supporting their partners when they play matches around the world, which is why Meares’ advice was sought.
Here are some […]

The Eiffel Tower, one of the most recognised landmarks in the world and a magnet for people taking holidays in Paris, has been voted the world’s most disappointing tourist attraction.
Almost a quarter of British travellers who took part in the survey by Virgin Travel Insurance said they were less than impressed by the monument.
10 most […]

Voting for the 55 categories in the British Travel Awards has begun - and everyone who completes a voting form will be entered into a free draw for a chance to win one of 50 holiday and travel prizes.
The prizes include a 12-day Baltic cruise for two; 40 pairs of tickets to a Jongleurs Comedy […]

Travel agents have dismissed claims that the Camp for Climate Change at Heathrow Airport will deter travellers.
BAA forecast that 1.5 million travellers would pass through Heathrow Airport during the weekend when the protests were taking place.
Travel Weekly has interviewed several travel agents around the country about the situation and they are reporting that it is […]

A new Amsterdam hotel will be the newest “yotel” in Europe.
What is a “yotel”? It’s a Japanese-inspired capsule hotel that offers hotel rooms for hire by the hour, designed to be used by weary travellers who need a short rest.
The 55-room hotel will open in early 2008 inside Amerdam’s Schipol Airport terminal building. The first […]

The annual Travellers’ Pulse survey by the Lonely Planet travel guides concludes that 32 per cent of travellers consider holiday activities a priority when choosing where to go.
This number has risen from last year and Lonely Planet believe this is in line with the “growing trend towards exploring niche experiences rather than simply visiting destinations […]

A new consumer survey has revealed that is more expensive to have a break in Blackpool than a holiday in Barcelona.
The National Consumer Council assessed average costs and discovered that a holiday in the Spanish capital costs an average of £518 per person, compared to £554 for a week in Blackpool.
The assessment is based on […]

President Bush has signed-off new laws designed to aid the USA holiday industry.
The new legislation has been hailed as “the most significant travel reform since 9/11 and is aimed at reversing the current negative image of the USA and making the country a more welcoming prospect for international travellers.
One of the measures is an expansion […]

Good news for air travellers - the current restrictions limiting the amount of hand luggage passengers can take on board a flights are to be relaxed.
People are currently only allowed to take one piece of hand luggage onto aeroplanes leaving from UK airports.
Jim Fitzpatrick, the Aviation Minister, has been quoted by the Financial Times as […]

Despite the implementation of new legislation, workers in the UK have the lowest paid holiday entitlement in the European Union.
Minimum holiday entitlement in the UK is set to rise from 20 days to 28 a year in 2009, but this is still much lower than other EU countries. Under the current rules, public holidays can […]

A survey of people who buy luxury holidays has revealed that Italy is the most popular destination.
Thailand, Vietnam and China are among the developing markets attracting the luxury holiday sector, catching up with holidays in Italy as the luxury choice.
The study was carried out on behalf of the International Luxury Travel Market, an exclusive travel […]

Sales of cruise holidays by UK travellers have increased by a quarter in the last five years, and industry experts predict further growth.
A study into cruise holiday bookings by Research and Markets has revealed that in 2008 there are set to be 1.5 million cruise passengers setting out on holidays from the UK.
In 2006 alone, […]

Sir Richard Branson’s latest enterprise, Virgin America made its first flight this week, a flight from New York to San Francisco.
The flight was delayed by a storm in New York.
Virgin America will specialise in low-cost flights in America offering impressive in-flight facilities including, leather seats, mood lighting, entertainment systems and first class seating.
Many of Branson’s […]