According to the WTM Vision Conference, figures are showing that the holiday and travel industry is showing some strong signs of growth meaning 2010 should be a good year for the industry.

The conference focused mainly upon the effects of the global recession and despite not achieving the four per cent growth predicted for 2009 last year, it seems that growth looks likely to continue in 2010.

Holiday deals are certainly aplenty for holidaymakers this summer as hotel prices are much cheaper and price reductions have been passed on, meaning cheap holidays for many.

Two areas in particular were praised for their positive approach and continued self promotion; the tourist boards for Barbados and Australia. The Carnival UK commercial officer, Peter Shanks, praised them for their efforts during the past year saying: “If you promote yourself when times are tough you will get the business.”

UK holidaymakers have already shown they are taking advantage of cheap holidays in Florida now that the pound has begun to strengthen again versus the dollar and it is expected that holidays within Europe will see the same resurgence as the pound strengthens against the euro, as holidays to Egypt have already done.

This month, air carrier Emirates has launched new Airbus A380 flights to Toronto in Canada and Bangkok in Thailand increasing the range of holidays to these destinations.

These new flights are a new experience for holidaymakers as this is the first time that the A380 has been used for commercial flights to Toronto and Bangkok. The flights will operate from Dubai three times a week to Toronto and once a day to Bangkok. Emirates said they mark: ‘a new era of luxury air travel to Thailand and Canada’.

Tim Clark, president of the airline, said:

‘Emirates is delighted to celebrate its inaugural A380 services to Thailand and Canada today. The aircraft with its large capacity and excellent operating economies is a pillar of growth, both for the airline and the destination.’

Emirates already runs an extensive network of international flights from the central hub in Dubai including holidays to Sydney in Australia and Auckland in New Zealand to name but a few.

The tourism board of Queensland, Australia recently announced its ‘best job in the world’ recruitment campaign which saw 34,686 applications for the opportunity to work as an island caretaker at the popular holiday location of the Great Barrier Reef islands.

Applications came from over 200 countries worldwide, the agency claimed, which they also said was ‘arguably one of the most successful tourism promotions ever mounted’.

The website advertising the job received 2.3 million hits and out of the total number that applied there were 7,500 who had responded within 48 hours of the advertisement going live.

The majority of applications came from the States (11,565) and then Canada (2,791), United Kingdom (2,262) and from within Australia (2,064).

The person who gets the new job in this dream holiday location will get to spend six months exploring every inch of the Great Barrier Reef islands providing regular reports online and to international media about the experience.

There are over 600 islands which are located along the Great Barrier Reef and 2,900 individual reefs boasting over twenty five holiday resorts.

Holidaymakers wishing to visit the Great Barrier Reef can fly direct to Brisbane airport which is the capital of Queensland travelling with Emirates, Qantas and Cathay Pacific.

IHG, InterContinental Hotels Group recently announced their new installation to tourists and holidaymakers which is going to be the largest building-mounted solar energy system that has been seen in the southern hemisphere and it is now sat on top of the Crowne Plaza hotel in Alice Springs Australia.

Holidaymakers staying at the hotel are now able to take advantage of the new solar photovoltaic system which is all part of a huge IHG efficiency programme which is expected to massively reduce energy consumption at the hotel by 40% - 80% depending upon the time of year.

Crowne Plaza hotel in Alice Springs is on a huge energy-saving initiative encouraging its holiday and business customers to go green. The hotel has replaced over 3,100 light bulbs with efficient versions across the whole hotel and new showerheads have been installed in each bathroom to improve the hotel’s gas and water efficiency.

General Manager, Adam Glass said:

“We are located in one of the hottest parts of the country. This means on one hand that we are a large consumer of energy, but on the other, we have access to a ready renewable resource to significantly offset that consumption. The water and energy savings that will result from our plans are staggering.”

Holiday makers and travellers who are visiting the city of Sydney, Australia are now given the option to visit a newly re-opened walking route within the city’s Royal National Park.

Tourism Australia sent a newsletter out in February which showed the new guided walk that takes place is across the Coast Track and combines excellent wine and good food with breathtaking panoramic views of the eastern Australian coastline.

The costal trips are due to range from a half day to itineraries that cover three days and additionally include tented accommodation; giving people the opportunity to receive a relaxing massage.

Travellers who enjoy hiking may be interested to know that Tasmania has got a new six day itinerary for an excursion that involves walking in the Tarkine rainforest along the Huskisson River, which provides amazing mountain views.

The Tasmania trip provides large canvas tents on timber platforms as accommodation for the duration of the trip. These are located deep in the forest at the historical gold mining town of Corinna.

Tourism Australia said during its recent newsletter that Eco Beach in Kimberley will be reopening from 1st July and will provide holiday makers with lodgings in their eco friendly safari style tents and villas.

Holiday makers and travellers have been reassured that the recent Australian bushfires in the state of Victoria have not spread or affected the main tourism areas in the area.

Melbourne authorities have said that their entire popular holiday sightseeing trips and experiences have not suffered any impact from the fire and neither has it spread to the city.

The areas of Victoria which are still unsafe and not usually visited by holiday makers include: Goldfields, the Grampians, Great Ocean Road, Phillip Island and the Mornington peninsula.

Furthermore, Melbourne airport, has not suffered from delays on flights or services in or out of any of its terminals; the airport has remained fully functional throughout the whole bushfire incident.

Claire Golding, Tourism for Victoria to Europe/UK, said:

“This was a terrible thing to happen but, from a tourism perspective, it does not affect most places that British travellers would visit. The majority of Victoria’s popular tourist regions, including the city of Melbourne and the iconic Great Ocean Road, have been unscathed by the bushfires.”

The recent fires have managed to destroy over 1,800 homes, leaving over 7,500 people homeless and have mainly affected sections of the Yarra valley, Gippsland and High Country.

Holiday makers who are planning to take a break in Australasia and the Middle East are now able to take advantage of new connecting flights to Australia which are being provided by Emirates.

Earlier, in February, Emirates launched another daily flight to Brisbane and an additional daily flight to Melbourne.

Emirates’ new connections are to be operated by their Airbus A340 which has capacity to carry 204 passengers in their economy class along with 12 private first class suites and 42 business class seats.

The new partnership has been described as ‘yet another initiative in the Emirates-Australia partnership’ with the new flights boosting the carrier’s capacity up to sixty three weekly flights to four Australian cities – Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney and Perth.

The carrier’s senior vice president, Richard Vaughan, who is in charge of the commercial operations in East Australasia and Asia, said:

‘Emirates is delighted to begin extra services and provide much needed capacity on the Melbourne and Brisbane routes. Our flights will assist in increasing inbound tourist arrivals and support the Australian government’s plans of developing these two cities as leading centres for tourism.’

Emirates became the very first carrier to operate its A380 from Dubai to New Zealand and Dubai on 1st February.

A recent publicity boom and increase in the number of holidays booked, has come through the recent release of ‘Australia’ a Baz Luhrmann film that has been named after the country; say the national tourist board.

Managing director Geoff Buckley at the Australian tourist board recently stated that the film which stars Hollywood A-listers Hugh Jackson and Nicole Kidman will go a long way to help Australia to maintain a high level worldwide profile and encourage more holiday makers to visit the country in the future.

The film has sparked world interest in Australia according to Geoff Buckley, and has also been perfect timing to coincide with a roll out of Australia’s tourism promotion ‘Come Walkabout’ campaign.

Acknowledging that the current economic downturn was more than likely to mean a decline in holiday makers to Australia this year, Geoff Buckley feels that the situation would likely to see improvement in 2010.

He sated:

‘Whilst we are realistic that the global financial crisis will result in a decline in international visitors to Australia in 2009, we believe that by keeping Australia front of mind amongst consumers we can minimise the impact of the crisis this year and lay a foundation for a return to growth in 2010.’

Holiday makers and business passengers that ended up at Sydney airport in 2008 joined the 1.2 million other passengers wanting to use its most popular non-domestic route to Auckland in New Zealand.

Sydney Airport and its customers, who equate for 11% of the airports’ yearly volume of international passengers, have been looking forward to the new flight service. The service launch is provided by Emirates who will be utilising their A380 craft to fly from the airport to Auckland in New Zealand.

The Emirates Airbus A380 servicing Sydney to Auckland launched its maiden flight on 2nd February 2009 and it was the first time a superjumbo aircraft had been used on this flight route.

CEO at Sydney Airport, Russell Balding, commented:

“The introduction of the A380 into commercial service across the Tasman is a great achievement, and I congratulate Emirates on flying the A380 on this very popular route. The fact that Emirates is acquiring 50 A380s means that while [this] historic flight represents a new first in aviation across the Tasman, there will be many more A380 flights from Sydney airport in the years ahead.”

Emirates are one of three airlines providing flights along the route and joins Singapore Airlines and Qantas.

Holiday makers heading for Melbourne during the month of April can enjoy a choice of world class entertainment as the Australian city is due to host its 2009 International Comedy Festival.

The comedy event held 1st April through to 26th April will be hosted at a number of venues across the Australian city, including the Capitol Theatre and Arts Centre.

British tourists and visitors world-wide will be treated to a great choice of international performers recognised for their popularity and comedy talent including Irish comedian, Dylan Moran who is stopping in Melbourne during his International tour which is also taking him to Sydney and Tasmania.

Both Mark Watson and Stephen K Amos are booked to perform at the festival, alongside some of Australia’s most popular local performers and other international comics.

This year the Melbourne International Comedy Festival will feature over 1,200 performers and 300 shows and is one of three similar large events that happen annually across the globe, with ‘Just For Laughs’ in Montreal and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Holiday makers will also enjoy cabaret shows, theatre productions and street performances including visual arts and film at the international event.