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A survey conducted by travelling site Holidays-Direct revealed the top factors considered by customers before booking family holidays.

The vacationers have been asked by customer representatives by rating the factors by importance. They were asked to rate the factors from 1 to 5 with one being the most important.

Based on the results, the most important factor was “safety of resort,” followed by “good reputation of the agency.” The next three factors were “user feedback and online reviews” (third), “ease of transfers” (fourth) and “closeness of airport” (fifth).

Holidays-Direct representative Jon Pearce said that they are happy that their company has been getting more customers due to their proven track record and meeting the factors mentioned above. He added that they provide useful advice to their customers in terms of choosing the best family holiday packages that best fits their budget.

There are a lot of great places to visit in Italy and the five most popular regions are Venice, Rome, Umbria, Tuscany and Calabria. Finding a holiday rental in those areas is easy once you have decided where to spend your vacation.

Before deciding, you can use the internet to find out each of these regions and what tourist destinations they can offer. There are holiday rental agencies listed online on each of the regions.

In Tuscany, there’s a great selection of rentals specified on this website: www.invitationtotuscany.com.

Travel experts revealed that dealing with local rental agencies will be most beneficial because should there be problems that would arise from the trip, someone close in the rental property can be contacted and can provided immediate assistance.

Interested in history and culture, then Calabria may be the best Italian destination for year. There are many buildings in these regions that tell a lot about the past. There are plenty of beautiful beaches in Italy where you can relax with the family in a bikini on the beach.

The growing number of unemployed citizens has led to the drastic decline of interest in going on holidays or vacation travels during Thanksgiving. This was revealed by AAA Carolinas.

AAA said that it estimated about 1,167,000 North Carolinians to travel more than fifty miles away from their homes this year which is just an increase of about 27,000.

AAA Carolinas spokesman Tom Crosby said that the figures last year were understandable because that’s where the economic slump started. However, the figures this year is still considered not back to normal as compared to the 2007 levels.

The reason behind this is the continuing increase in gas prices. This led people to just stay at home in the holidays rather than spend on gas for holiday travels.

Air travel has decreased by 7 percent this year due to gas prices as well.

On the period before the Christmas season, more Brits are headed for their annual UK holidays to spend quality time with their loved ones. This is admirable but there’s one aspect that is often overlooked, most of these individuals don’t avail of travel insurance whenever they go on UK holidays.

This claim was based on the new research conducted by Go compare website, stating that majority of their traveler-respondents in the survey said that they don’t avail of travel insurance whenever they go on a trip to their second homes or spending the holiday in family’s or friend’s houses during their trips.

The results showed that vacationers are nine times more likely to travel within UK without travel insurance compared to those who availed package holidays both within the country or abroad. Travellers abroad may invest more in specific items and clothing for their holiday such as swimwear, diving equipment if they are going for a beach or diving holiday.

Respondents reasoned that they would rather spend the money on other stuff rather than on travel insurance.

Despite the preconceived notion that spending a holiday in Europe is expensive, a latest survey revealed that there are several countries in the region that are still affordable. According to the holiday costs survey, conducted annually by Post Office Travel Services, Bulgaria topped the list of cheapest costs for a holiday extravaganza. The European country beat last year’s topnotcher Thailand.

Countries in Europe that made the cut are Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece and Croatia. Travel Services Head Sarah Munro said that the survey only disproves notions that spending your holiday in Europe can be very expensive. In fact, the decline on the British pound helped lessen the prices of goods in the region.

Munro clarified that there are other European destinations where travelers could shell out more money, such as France which topped the most expensive list. Here’s the list provided by Post Office Travel Services revealing the price of basket of goods composed of drinks, dinner for two and other holiday items. This will give travelers an idea how much they would spend on basic travel goods in a particular country.

• Bulgaria £42.23
• Thailand: £43.92
• Africa: £46.13
• Kenya: £57.66
• Turkey: £64.31
• Croatia: £64.76
• Malaysia: £64.82
• Spain: £67.08
• Portugal: £67.47
• Malta: £67.97
• Greece: £68.93
• Egypt: £68.99
• Jamaica: £74.60
• Italy: £77.05
• Cyprus: £78.01
• France: £78.30

Holiday Airfare may be more expensive this Thanksgiving season than it has ever been. Studies have shown that airfare is up nearly 30 percent compared to last year’s numbers. Experts are blaming the falling economy and the ever increasing price of gas. Consumers this holiday season would also find that transport companies are offering lesser discount deals compared to 2007.

“The combination of high fuel prices, airline capacity and route cuts means holiday travelers may easily spend upwards of $100 more per ticket than last year,” Said a Farecast Spokesperson.

The Holiday airfares are expected to decrease by Christmas and New Years – but by very little.

The Associated Press and Farecast also report that fees for food, excess baggage and other extras will be higher this year too. Passengers are then advised to minimize their the amount of their baggage in order to save money.

In other news, Associated Press also reports that Caribbean Holiday Cruises are on top of the Holiday list this year. Travel Leaders concluded that trips to the Caribbean was the most in demand holiday option over all others.

Holiday cruises to the Mediterranean, Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, Montego Bays and Rome were also popular holiday destinations for 2008 as everyone loves being in their swimwear on the beach!