Holidays the Hot Topic of Conversation

Whenever there is even the briefest lull in the conversation these days, holidays is the topic that inevitably comes up.

Maybe it’s because there has been the slightest hint of nice sunny weather recently which has promoted the holiday fever or the fact that, staring down the barrel of a stressful recession, the blissful thought of relaxing on a beach somewhere for the summer holidays is an ideal escape from the day to day realities.

Whatever the reason, people are talking a lot about holidays. The flavour of the moment seems to fall into two categories, close-to-home bargain holidays and further away, non-eurozone holidays.

Both options have their pros and cons but the unifying theme throughout is value for money. Recent polls have shown that Brits abroad are not actually spending less on holidays but they are looking for good value, in order to make the money they do spend go further.

Top of the bargain bucket brigade is a cheap holiday to Tenerife. The Canary Islands are a tourist haven with great weather, stunning beaches and delightful prices. The British have been invading Tenerife since 1797 when Nelson attacked the Spanish at Santa Cruz de Tenerife. Today, Tenerife receives an annual invasion of tourists looking to capture the most of the beautiful island.

Whilst holidays to Tenerife remain good value, the poor exchange rate of the pound against the euro has seen a huge influx in interest in holidays in Egypt and Turkey. Turkey is dripping with cultural diversity, placed as it is, slap bang in the middle of Asia and Europe.

The hub of activity where East meets West is Istanbul, a vibrant hubbub of bustling city sights and nightlife. Not only does the Turkish lira have a generous rate of 2.4 lira to the pound, the haggling culture of Turkey means you can really save a packet on your holidays .

The real boon of the moment though is Egypt. Holidays to Egypt have always been popular if you want to see the Pyramids, but the country is now slowly gaining a reputation as a brilliant spot for secluded beach holidays.

Sharm el Sheikh in particular has always been popular with the Middle Eastern tourist market but is still being discovered by the mass British tourism culture. Not only does Sharm el Sheikh offer some brilliant beaches, the area is also famous for scuba diving and amazing marine life.

2009 could easily end up being your chance for the holiday of a lifetime.

Kim has 5 years experience in the Travel industry and writing travel content for brochures. She enjoys writing on various different locations.