Maybe the Olympics and also Queen’s Diamond Jubilee will entice one to stay at home this year… or perhaps they’ll cause you to long to escape. Whatever you choose, here’s your lowdown on 2012’s holiday features…

FOR FAMILIES

Mark Warner’s 2nd five-star hotel will be opening on May 19 on the Greek island of Rhodes. Set on the sands of the location of Afandou Beach, each of the 80 contemporary rooms have the balcony or a terrace – eight even have their own private swimming pools.

There will be the usual variety of ­activities, kids’ clubs and spas. 7 nights’ half-board starts at L765pp ­including BA flights coming from Heathrow. For more details go to www.markwarner.co.uk or phone 0844 273 5010.

Fancy doing something a little more adventurous with the family this year? Virgin Holidays has launched a whole new range of trips that are tailored for adults and children and give the chance to explore more exotic corners of the world.

Worldwide Journeys offers holidays inside China, India, Costa Rica, Tanzania and also Egypt, with itineraries that ­encompass pursuits kids will love, while mom and dad will get a fascinating insight into nearby life and culture. The particular tours range from eight to fifteen days and cost from L1,295 with an Egyptian Family Adventure. Observe www.virginholidaysjourneys.co.uk

Push the boat out without having making waves in your standard bank ­balance when you stay at ­Keycamp’s new Pond House at Chateau des Ormes parc inside ­Northern Brittany. It’s built on a floating podium, so you can float the thatched-roofed residence – ­complete with double your bed, bunk beds and decked terrace – out on to the lake and then punt back.

Book by February 29 and two nights in the Lake House followed by a few nights in a Villanova mobile home (sleeps two adults and two youngsters six-12) will cost from L300 including Dover/Calais crossings on May 19. Go to www.keycamp.co.uk or phone 0844 406 0319.

HOTEL STAYS

On the front doorstep of Faro airport, ­the Palacio Valverde Resort & Club in ­Portugal is due to open inside November, making the Algarve an ideal choice for a weekend break.

The resort will have 158 rooms ­dotted in between lakes, beautiful gardens and also swimming pools with buildings meant to create a palace feel. Observe www.conradhotels.hilton.com

Further afield you are able to combine natural beauty and winter months sun with a trip to your Southern State of Kerala. Teletext Holidays is offering a 5 Star luxurious trip to Kerala staying at the Leela Kempinski for just L1119 per person.

Getting seat tickets for the Olympic or Paralympic Games was difficult, but finding an easily affordable hotel room in London may be perhaps harder. Grab a bargain by simply booking a room at the new Travelodge in Stratford, right in the heart of Games territory, which starts in March. Doubles commence at L59 per night, there are also family rooms that sleep up to four. Publication on www.travelodge.co.uk

Get up close to the wildlife whenever you stay at one of eight new lodges at Whipsnade Zoo, Furniture. Opening in April, each sleeps up to four together with prices from L115pp including morning meal, an evening barbecue and a twilight tour of the zoo.

Travel arrangements

Berlin opens a brand new airport terminal in June next year, creating Germany’s most exciting and diverse city easier to get to. Lufthansa (www.lufthansa.co.uk) will launch every day flights to the city coming from Birmingham and Manchester once the airport opens.

And easyJet (www.easyjet.com) has five new routes starting this summer. The very first time Naples will be ­accessible from Edinburgh and Bristol (starting April 18 and May 12 respectively) although travellers from Scotland will have new flights from Edinburgh to Dalaman (from April 17). A fresh route between Southend and Jersey will begin on May 2, while from March 31 you’ll be able to fly from Luton to Corfu.

More good news for Scottish ­travellers coming from Jet2 (www.jet2.com), which commences flights from Glasgow to Barcelona three times a week and two flights a week to Murcia from March 29.

Manchester gets 3 new routes – four flights a week to Paris from March 29, twice-weekly to Milan Bergamo (starting May 16) and also three flights a week to Toulouse (May 12).

HOLIDAYS

Cruises from the UK have grow to be increasingly popular in recent years as they avoid the hassle and cost of hurtling, and P&O is set to increase the departures from Southampton this year, with 7 new cruises.

The new itineraries add a 28-night trip to the Caribbean on Adonia, and also cruises to the Canary Islands, your Western Med and the Atlantic Coast. From next winter 3 ships – Oriana, Oceana and Adonia – will sail year-round from Southampton. Go to www.pocruises.com for more.

Disney Cruises is setting cruise from three new locations in 2012, meaning that its not just kids who have every one of the fun. From May 25, Disney will be sailing coming from New York – as well as Seattle and Galveston in Texas – making a couple of nights in the Big Apple the perfect way to spherical off a child-friendly cruise. Visit www.disneycruise.co.uk

Nice thing about it for Irish cruising fans: MSC Cruise trips is adding Cork and ­Dublin to four new itineraries in August and September. Customers can easily embark and disembark from the luxurious MSC Lirica, with itineraries that take in the German port of Hamburg and also Amsterdam and the Shetland Isles. More info from www.msccruises.co.uk

Croatia also has beautiful coastlines and offers excellent value money compared to other Mediterranean resorts. In Croatia the most beautiful cities are Split,Dubrovnik and Makarska. Try this 7 evening cruise along the Dalmatian Coast for just L699 per person. Saving up to L200pp.

RAIL BREAKS

Holidays by simply rail are gaining ­popularity, and also Great Rail Journeys has a number of new itineraries, including numerous in the British Isles. Discover Scotland’s beautiful countryside and vibrant ­cities on a nine-day Western Highlands and Hebrides tour (coming from L825pp), or take a short enter the beautiful Yorkshire Dales (from L448).

More high-speed trains are making Europe more available by rail than ever before, and also GRJ has new trips towards the continent including a 10-day trip to the astonishing Harz Mountains and Rhine Gorge inside Germany (from L1,298pp), and the opportunity to explore lesser-known Southern Italy, which has a 13-day trip to Puglia and Basilicata (from L1,925pp). More details at www.greatrail.com or call 01904 521936.

Spoil your loved one on Valentine’s, or surprise your mum on Mother’s Day with a particular journey aboard the Navigate Express, writes tagza.com. Superbreak is offering a selection of day trips across the UK on sister trains the British Pullman and Northern Belle from London and other cities. The ­Valentine’s Day time round-trip costs L195pp on the Northern Belle coming from Manchester or Liverpool which includes five-course dinner, champagne and fifty percent bottle of wine. Book at www.superbreak.com or call 0871 222 3055.

Tags: Accommodation, destination, nature, tourism, travel

Croatian tourism officially had a record year in 2011, and yet the season is still awfully short. A new survey unearths perceptions of the country from Continentals who’ve never visited. A lovely coastline, beaches, sea, Yugoslavia and war – these were the most typical responses in a survey about perceptions of Croatia, according to a report on Tportal.hr, according to a dispatch in the Croatian Times on Jan twenty-five, 2012.

The survey of 2,574 people from Germany, UK, Denmark, Sweden, Poland and Spain, was overseen by Sinisa Horak from the Institution for Tourism, which asked its target sample what came into their head when the word ‘Croatia ‘ was discussed. None of the respondents had been to Croatia, and approximately 20% responded that they could associate nothing with the country.

The survey was instructive, as it gave an understanding into how Croatia was perceived internationally, with perceptions varying from country to country. Poles, Germans and Swedes made the organisation between Croatia and a pretty coast, beaches and sea, as did the Spaniards, who also had a sense of history and culture, while the Danes and UK the first organisation is war. The survey aligned Croatia more as an ex-Yugoslav state than an imminent EU member.
The results are not surprising, but they do point to an area where the Croatian visitor board should be marketing its efforts – on improving perception of Croatia and its traveller attractions globally. Alan Mandic, owner of boutique travel agency, Secret Dalmatia, agrees, as he announced in a interview with Digital Book :
“My clients come from late March to mid November so I am quite pleased with the length of “my” traveller season. The solution is easy : get Croatia on the map. Irrespective of how easy, it needs to have a serious investment and determination from our administration / ministry apropos continuous promotion and targeting opinion-making targets to maximise the results . Just an example is generally to have Croatia featured, or at a minimum mentioned, in preferred US shows and newspapers that are internationally distributed.”

The job of the Croatian visitor board to brand the country’s tourism in the trail of the horrible war in the area was enormous, and it deserves great credit in the very effective campaign under the slogan The Mediterranean as it Was, as the next generation of visitor came to uncover a new country with great beaches and nightlife. Holiday makers generally like to come in Split, Trogir,Makarska and Dubrovnik.

Prior to the break-up of previous Yugoslavia, tourism to Croatia was booming, with more than 440,000 Brits coming to previous Yugoslavia every year, the second preferred destination after Spain, with most coming on packages with Yugotours. Back then the geography was easy, but the re-drawing of the map in Eastern Europe has lead to confusion, and there is a need to teach on the new reality. One of the common errors for example, is to mix up Slovenia, an EU member and part of former Yugoslavia, with Slovakia, also in the ECU. Gaffes such as the recent placing of Bulgaria in former Yugoslavia by Fox Reports do not do much to help.
The split of Yugoslavia causes confusion among an older generation who visited the area before the war, as was shown by a number of the responses I received in a forum survey for another online writing site, earlier in the year. Asked about perceptions of Croatia, one respondent answered :
“Before the war, when I was living in Europe I used to go to former Yugoslavia quite often. It was actually the ideal vacation place. I think the Adriatic coast is among the most beautiful in the world. But now I feel ignorant because I don’t know where the new limits are and even which country I’d be visiting. Is Istria in the same country as Dubrovnik? I would perform some research. I believe the war has indeed put people off, though it might just be me. So if you could help folk get over their preconceived ideas or, worse, ignorance, you’d be doing a great job”, writes tagza.com.

Tags: Accommodation, destination, nature, tourism, travel