Holiday News - Direct

Tourism officials in Norway and the North East have spoken out over the decision to stop the ferry service from Newcastle to Bergen. Both areas expect to see major losses in visitor numbers and income.

Holidaymakers probably won’t have much need for it, but young business travellers want wireless internet access while flying. Almost half of business travellers surveyed recently said they wanted wireless access in the air.

The Royal Caribbean cruise line’s two new big ships have been named Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas. The ships will be some of the biggest cruise ships in the world. Cruise holidays onboard Oasis will be available from late 2009.

BMI will be starting a trial on paperless boarding – passengers will be sent a barcode as a text message which will then be scanned at the airport security. The text message will have a two-dimensional barcode which will be scanned at security, but it will only work once to avoid security breaches.

October will see the 13th Bermuda festival take place at a popular holiday resort in Bermuda. Big stars like Alicia Keys and Beyonce have been signed for the four day event. Holidaymakers in Bermuda this October will also have the chance to see British reggae group UB40, Aaron Neville and The Whispers.

Holidays in Jamaica are continuing to grow in popularity, so much that Jamaica is expecting to see 3,000 new hotel rooms every year until 2015. Tourism sector in Jamaica will also require 58,000 more people to work in various positions thanks to the growth.

Holidaymakers flying with British Airways from London still cannot be sure about where they their flight will be taking off from. BA has changed the move date to Terminal 5 – again.

People heading for a city break in New York will no longer have the Stansted option with American Airlines.

Too much negative publicity has driven the German organiser of nudist flights to the Baltic Sea. Beginning of this year the announcement of nudist flights and package holidays caused a lot of media attention.

Holidays in Dominica have become much more accessible for holidaymakers coming from the UK, thanks to a new air service planned to connect long-haul flights from UK to St Lucia airport to Dominica.

Could Hello Kitty be able to convince you to go on a holiday in Japan? The Japanese government thinks Hello Kitty will attract tourists from China and Hong Kong at least, as it picks the mascot character to be a tourism ambassador to those countries.

Later this year, Egypt is offering a unique chance of getting married in Pharaoh-style ceremony. Egypt has been attracting holidaymakers for years with its incredible history as well as great weather and beautiful scenery.

The cruise line Regent Seven Seas has announced it is about to finalise an order for a new ship. The new addition will be similar to the Mariner and Voyager, with all-balcony and all-suite layout.

Cultural holidays are becoming more prominent, in the past ten years the percentage of people saying they’re taking a cultural holiday has almost doubled. A new ATLAS survey reveals that a record high 31% of holidaymakers were on a cultural holiday in 2007.

The number of Brits travelling to the US was up by 11% in February 2008, compared to the same month last year. According to new official numbers, the overall number of people arriving the US was also up by 11% in February.

Taking a family holiday is usually only possible during half-term, but recent numbers show that families taking a holiday in that busy time, are paying up to 80% more than at other times.

Celebrity cruises has announced it will start cruise holidays to Antarctica. This may sound a bit odd, but Antarctica is becoming more popular as a cruise holiday destination.

Travel and holidays are all about getting environmentally friendly these days. You can offset your carbon emissions of your flight, stay at green hotels and now, if you are going for a holiday in Las Vegas, you can hire an eco-friendly limousine.

There will be more fresh air to breathe for people on holiday in Turkey from now on, as a smoking ban has been enforced there. Turkey follows many European countries in a wave of banning smoking in public places.

Summer time on cruise holidays – you might find yourself surrounded by children everywhere you go. To accommodate for adults travelling on their own, or for the parents who need a break, many cruise lines have incorporated children-free zones on their ships.