Longer But Less Vacations For The Summer

Family holidays this year for many will be going back to what was the norm a generation ago, and for those who remember the 1980's they will recall when vacations were an established part of the calendar for many couples and families - more often than not it was taken in August, would be for a couple of weeks, and it would be the year after before the routine was repeated - often to the same location, and more often than not at same villa or hotel accommodation.

But over more recent times with cheaper travel and budget airlines, extra leisure time, easy to find loans and a thriving economy the holidays industry was transformed in the 1990's and changed to adapt to what holidaymakers expected.

The beginning of the internet and subsequent use by a large part of the population made going on holiday overseas easier as well, as people were able to become their own travel agency and could compare all the deals on offer from their their own home or office to design their ideal vacation.

Looking at what a holiday destination had to offer became possible too, making day trips easier to plan, and if for example you were booking Menorca holidays it was no longer was a daily newspaper's around the world weather column as the main source of information, and overall a host of internet sites allowed the tourist to be well informed of what was available before arrival.

Remembering how things used to be, the biggest change that came with budget travel was the chance of having more than one trip a year, often for just a long weekend or for a few nights midweek, allowing people to enjoy different destinations at various times of the year.

And the yearly two week holiday in August became a thing of the past. A weekend in Prague or Monaco? A week in the winter months to one of the Spanish Canary Islands? With budget airline flights and hotels remaining open throughout the winter and spring all of this became possible, and the travel industry truly changed from just a few years before.

A mixture of three, four, seven and ten night trips away became more commonplace, and frequently people would be taking two or three four trips a year, finding places they had never been to before while still visiting destinations they had enjoyed previously.

But this new found freedoms to travel the world came to a sudden stop when Lehman Brothers went broke in September 2008, sparking the banking crises that sent shockwaves through the global economy - and the holiday industry that had been doing so well hit recessionary times.

Many people - but not all - have had to cut their travel spending since then, with some having 'staycations', while others have had to cut the number of vacations they were enjoying from two or three to just one or two, and with the global economy still uncertain a return to the annual two weeks is one of the trends predicted by many in the holidays industry for 2011.

Not that this is necessarly bad news for the Spanish Balearic island of Menorca, which is a family orientated destination and the quietest of the Balearic Islands, which at the same time offers family attractions for days outs, with accommodation at the island's hotels enjoying a good reputation and plenty of availability for Minorca flights and an overall picture of a good Spanish Mediterranean location for a vacation.

And for those who like somewhere that is more of a home from home, there is a good choice of villas available in the various resorts and villages including Cala En Porter, Cala'n Bosch, Binibeca and Son Bou, bookable for a one or two week stay, and many of the specialist villa companies are able to offer flights to Menorca plus if wanted car hire for a complete package.