The North Gauteng High Court in South Africa has ruled that a pair of holidaymakers travelling from the UK who were arrested and detained by local authorities are to receive 90,000 Rand compensation for their ordeal.
The two travellers, one who was hospitalised on his return to the UK, were unlawfully arrested in Beitbridge, where they were held in deplorable conditions for around 11 hours.
Siyananiso Mashava, a Zimbabwean, and Ian Murrell, from Australia, had been holidaying in the republic in August 2007, having travelled there for a holiday from their UK home. Judy Jody Kollapen advised the court that the pair [...]

Tui Travel, the largest tour operator in Europe, has announced that renewed interest in the travel market has forced them to schedule more holidays for the summer, with the resulting financial windfall hopefully signaling an end to the economic crisis which has plagued operators for the past year and a half.
Established in 2007 by the collaboration of British group First Choice and TUI AG’s, Tui Travel claimed that the first improvements for months in operating profit/ loss figures should have the industry eagerly watching the next few months. The biggest growth region geographically was Scandinavia, where summer bookings have risen [...]

The resurgence in the cruise industry means that 2010 could well be the best year in a while, as holidaymakers turn increasingly away from the air and head onto the water.
So just where are the best destinations for cruising holidays? The following are the current hot items that should be discovered while they can.
A tour of the arctic region may well come once in a lifetime, especially if the global warming doomsayers are correct. The Svalbard archipelago is the best Nordic region to see the majesty that sea has to offer, with Spitsbergen a popular stopover on the Iceland and [...]

Planning a holiday to the US? In spite of the ever-present travel warnings and security focus the US remains a popular destination and with the weakening pound being mirrored by the declining dollar UK holidaymakers can still find excellent deals.
According to The Sunday Telegraph’s travel reviewer a 10-day package holiday including flights, accommodation and car hire can still be found for around£800 – the same price as 2007. Even better is that rental car drivers will find delight in the fact that petrol is a measly 45p per litre.
Flights to and from the US are continuing to stay stable and [...]

The Passenger Shipping Association has released figures that indicate a marked rise in UK ferry passenger numbers as over 11.4 million trips were made across the UK last year. The increase, of around 1.4 percent against 2008 statistics, re-enforced the belief across the travel industry that staycationing was the biggest trend of 2009.
Holidaymakers travelling with cars also increased as over 2 million ferry journeys accompanied by vehicles took place last year – a rise of 0.7 percent from the same period in 2008. The new data reiterates figures from the Office for National Statistics which commissioned by the UK Tourism [...]

Despite all of the discounts being offered by travel companies all over the UK, many Brits are still planning on taking no trips away next year. Recent polls suggest that Brits are simply going to cut holiday trips out of their budgets.
In 2009, a total of about 10 percent took no breaks. However, figures for next year suggest that about 18 percent of all Brits will take no break in 2010, according to a survey that was taken by travelsupermarket.com.
The people that will be taking one break away will increase from 26 percent in 2009 to 33 percent. The number [...]

Hundreds of thousands of British Airways passengers today received the welcome news that their Christmas travel plans will not be thrown into disarray after the High Court blocked a planned 12-day strike. In deeming the cabin crew strike unlawful the court has delivered a humbling blow to the Unite union.
The result of the ban will mean that some 900,000 passengers who have made reservations for travel over the planned strike period from December 22nd  to January 2nd will be saved from last minute panic and inconvenience. Unite, despite the ruling, has stated that it will continue to seek some form [...]

Staycation trends look set to continue this winter as the increased burden of Christmas shopping and family together time impacts on holidaymakers. Forecasts have suggested that this holiday season most Britons are ditching the traditional European jaunts in favour of heading to the countryside or visiting the grandparents.
Tightened purse-strings have seen demand for car hire skyrocket as weekends away come ever closer to home and the low cost or renting a car means that it will be one of the most popular forms of travel this year and next.
Savvy stock market watchers are keeping a keen eye on hire firm [...]

Car hire users amongst English football fans planning on attending the World Cup in South Africa in 2010 have been advised to thoroughly research the country prior to their travels. The Foreign Office warning also comes at a time when fans have been urged to protect themselves against carjacking and also too book all tickets well in advance.
The Foreign Office has published a ten point checklist for football fans which can be located on their website.
Pre-booked accommodation is essential, with 500,000 people visiting at the same time you do not want to be forced into remote and second rate lodging. [...]

UK travellers visiting abroad dropped by a huge 14 percent in the year to the end of September, with total numbers reaching 60.8 million – a drop of 9.8 million.
Inbound travel numbers were also affected with a 9 percent decrease registered, meaning a drop of some 3 million to reach the total of 29.9 million overall.
The sharp decline was headed by inbound business travel to Britain in the past year which fell by 24 percent. Outbound business travel fell by 16 percent in the past 12 months compared to the previous year. The results were aided slightly by Holiday travel [...]