According to ABTA (the Association of British Travel Agents), the current economic climate and the resulting fluctuations in currency will have a huge impact on where holidaymakers choose to take their holidays in 2009.

Opinium Research recently completed a new survey of 2,000 respondents, and this showed that over three quarters of travellers see the price as the main factor in choice of destination.

A spokesperson for ABTA, Frances Tuke said this is not new but indicated that the price of holidays is likely to be combined with the price of currency when they look at their list of holiday choices for the next year.

She added:

‘Obviously, this year, [price] will be a major consideration and we do know that the euro and the dollar rates are going to really affect people’s choices about where they go.’

The increase in Euro costs for UK holidaymakers could mean that UK tourism increases, according to Ms Tuke, but she did add that other non-euro places like Turkey or Egypt are likely to be popular choices too.

‘It could be that the UK does clean up slightly next year, but you’ve got to remember that the last two years in the UK have been quite wet, the weather hasn’t been great for UK holidays. Turkey and Egypt are also seeming to do quite well for next year as they seem to be quite good value options.’

According to the Lonely Planet travel editor Tom Hall, in many ways, New York is

‘the ultimate city’

For those looking for luxury holidays before Christmas for a little shopping, they have been urged to try New York City or ‘the Big Apple’.

Mr Hall said:

‘It’s somewhere that goes beyond shopping, so it’s great for three or four days, or even longer if you can spare it.’

Mr Hall dismissed that New York is only for the wealthy wanting luxury holidays, as he emphasised that New York can be a great cheap holiday deal too. He added:

‘There are often very good value deals available out there at the moment, both for flights and hotels. I think if people are in a position to travel, this is actually a good time to do so. The closer you get to Christmas, the more expensive it will get.’

A recent report from the Post Office showed that in spite of the recent drop in the pound’s value versus the dollar, shoppers are still able to save almost 17 percent on Christmas presents in New York when compared to prices in London.

Flights to New York take between nine and ten hours and fly from most major UK airports with several airlines.

Luxury holidays are available for less according to the Hungarian national tourist office, which has invited travellers looking for a cheap holidays or city breaks to visit the country’s capital city of Budapest.

According to the tourist office, travellers can visit gourmet restaurants, have spa treatments, stay in five star luxury hotels and more in Budapest for just a fraction of the price of other European cities.

A popular luxury option for accommodation is a five star hotel in the Buda Castle district, the St George Residence.

The Buda Castle district is quaint with cobbled streets and rich in heritage with its Unesco world heritage sites and medieval architecture.

There are several places throughout the city where holidaymakers can eat out on a budget, such as the Spoon lounge and café on the banks of the River Danube or the Apetito restaurant in the Castle district.

Over the festive period, those visiting the city can try out their ice skating skills at the city’s ice rink in the park or if it is a more relaxing experience they’re looking for, they can try centres like the Mandala day spa for a wide variety of spa treatments.

The city of Chicago is home to the newly elected American president, Barack Obama and his family, and the Chicago Convention and Tourism Bureau has taken advantage of this to encourage travellers to experience the ‘presidential’ city.

The bureau has said that Chicago has been praised by many experts as being one of the United States’ best cities for cuisine and is host to several of the Obama family’s favourite places to eat.

One popular restaurant is RJ Grunts in Lincoln Park, and Sepia, Topolobampo where the Mexican food is reportedly delicious.

If holidaymakers are looking for shopping, then one of the city’s famed shopping areas is the Magnificent Mile and in Hyde Park, 57th Street Books is apparently a favourite of the soon-to-be first lady, Michelle Obama, who has told the Chicago Sun Times:

‘The variety of titles, the programs for kids and the neighborhood feel make it a wonderful place to take a walk to and browse around.’

Chicago also hosts some great natural attractions, such as the Art Institute of Chicago, the Field Museum of Natural History, Grant Park and the hugely popular lakefront area.

Flights to Chicago are available from several UK airports.

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has recently completed a survey, whose results show that the quickest growing sector in international travel through UK airports is due to visiting friends and relatives, which they have termed ‘social travel’.

Social travel has grown by two third from 2001 to 2007 whereas the number of international travellers has only increased by a third.

The main rise has been accounted for between the UK and the European Union, as European cities and destinations have accounted for two thirds of the social travel rise.

In 2007, 4 million people visited friends and relatives abroad, with Spain being the most significant, followed by Germany, Italy and then Poland.

Dr Harry Bush, CAA group director of economic regulation, said: ‘The CAA’s research highlights that aviation has been a key driver in increasing economic and social integration with Europe.

‘There are now many more passengers travelling to and from the UK to visit friends and relatives in Europe – the result of increased labour mobility, overseas study and home ownership abroad.’

Short haul travel has also increased recently, particularly from airports such as London Stansted, Luton, Liverpool, Bristol and the East Midlands.

The Airbus A380 was brought to Paris last weekend so that Air France could carry out a few tests to ensure the plane can be accommodated at the Charles de Gaulle airport.

This day, the 22nd November, was the first time that Paris had hosted the new A380 superjumbo aircraft.

The new H6 hangar at Paris Charles de Gaulle has been designed especially to accommodate this giant aircraft and the plane was towed into it and then subjected to several tests including maintenance equipment, body, upper deck, horizontal tail fin and other tests, all of which passed with flying colours.

The H6 hangar covers more than 25,000 square metres, large enough to hold both an Airbus A380 and two other medium sized plans. Its construction took two years and over 450,000 hours of labour.

Before the end of next year, Air France hopes to get its first A380 for commercial user and from the base at Paris Charles de Gaulle the airline expects to run the first scheduled flights.

Air France operates scheduled flights to hundreds of destinations around the world.

Most cruise customers intend to continue taking their sea journeys over the next twelve months despite the current economic climate, according to a new survey.

According to news site CruiseCritic.co.uk surveyed over 2,000 regular cruise passengers, which showed almost a quarter said that their plans would not be affected by the credit crunch.

Only 13 percent said they would not go in the next year due to money issues.

The most popular way to cut costs on cruises is going to be to remove the need for flights by sailing from the nearest port (32 percent) or booking at the last minute for cheaper deal (26 percent).

Carolyn Spencer Brown, editor in chief of CruiseCritic, said: “Cruise travellers are a determined lot and will go without and seek out all kinds of economies before losing their annual fix on the high seas. Of course, the inclusive nature of cruise travel means that it compares very favourably with a land-based holiday, with a cruise fare typically including accommodation, meals, gratuities, entertainment, transport from port to port, and, in some cases, even airfare.”

She also added there would be a large increase in cruise options for the UK for next year, so many British travellers should be able to save some money by not flying to the departure point.

Japan’s tourist office has encouraged winter sports fans to try skiing in Japan with a statement that says the ski slopes in the country are both accessible and cheap.

The tourist agency has published a guide to approximately thirty different ski resorts along the country’s ‘mountainous backbone’, which includes Hakuba Happo-one, which was the venue for the 1996 Winter Olympics in Nagano.

One resort that has proved popular with the Australian tourists is Niseko Grand Hirafu in Hokkaido, and the resort of Alts Bandai, which will play host to the FIS Freestyle World Championship in 2009.

For those looking for cheap holidays for winter sports, the single day lift tickets are usually priced at about 4,000 yen, or £28, which is apparently cheaper than many major skiing places in Europe and America.

Travellers planning a skiing trip to Japan are also being encouraged to take advantage of the country’s hot springs, known as onsen, which are described as

‘the perfect way to ease tired muscles’

Japan’s transport system, especially the bullet train high speed network, means holidaymakers can hit Nagano’s ski slopes and still enjoy the Tokyo nightlife on the same day.

Railway services operator Eurostar has celebrated its first year anniversary of the launch of the high speed services in Kent at the Ebbsfleet International station.

The 186 mph service to Paris and Brussels began from Kent in November last year and has since gone on from strength to strength.

Other developments associated with the Kent service in the past twelve months have included the opening of a Eurostar store at the Bluewater shopping centre nearby as well as a regional advertising initiative to promote the service from Ebbsfleet to Europe.

The service has benefited travellers looking for cheap holidays or corporate travel and almost 90 percent of travellers from the Ebbsfleet International station now come from places in the South East such as Greater London, Surrey, Essex, East Sussex and West Sussex.

Simon Montague, Eurostar’s director of communications, said:

‘We’ve faced a tough challenge to put Ebbsfleet International on the map, and we’re really pleased that the name is now becoming well-known. In many ways it is the same challenge that faced Eurostar when Ashford International first opened in 1996. We are committed to both our Kent stations, and the significant growth on the London-Brussels route has also enabled us to plan the reintroduction of a direct Ashford-Brussels service next year.’

ACI North America (Airports Council International) has welcomed the opening of new runways in three major airports in the United States.

International airports, Chicago O’Hare, Washington Dulles and Seattle Tacoma all opened their new runways on the 20th November.

The president of ACI North America, Greg Pincipato, stated that the openings will already benefit travellers, however, he also added that there is still further work that needs to be done in order to achieve additional congestion reductions.

He said

‘The new runways will help passengers by increasing capacity and decreasing congestion and delays at those airports. But we also need to continue our investment in airport infrastructure. These projects each took years to become a reality and airports need to gather the resources now in order to meet the predicted demand for travel in the future.’

Mr Principato also commented that airport traffic in the USA is anticipated to increase to around 1 billion passengers per year by 2016.

US President George Bush has also recently stated that military airspace will be opened over the next few weeks in order to assist with reducing congestion and any delays over the festive period.