Four-fifths of families will go abroad on holiday this year, an online trade magazine has claimed.
In a Travel Weekly-commissioned survey of 500 people, 82% said they are either very likely or quite likely to have an overseas holiday, which may mean travelling from one of the UK’s major airports such as Stansted or Heathrow.

The respondents had all been overseas in the last five years.
The most likely groups to go abroad are those aged 18-34 and over 55, and the least likely are those aged 35-54, the survey by Explore Research suggests.
Unsurprisingly, the cost of travelling is the deciding factor for the majority (55%), while two-fifths (42%) say the destination is the biggest consideration. One in three are guided by the weather of a particular place and a quarter prioritise good accommodation, the survey suggests.

In terms of age, the type and quality of digs drives the decision for most over-55s, while cost, family-friendly facilities and safety of children most concerned the under-35s.
Around one in five holiday with family or friends (18%) and the same proportion holiday with one or two children, while around one in six go away with extended family (16%).
Explore Research’s Katie Brown said: “More than one-third of people will book with larger groups, either with friends or other families or extended family.
“This presents operators with the challenge of providing family-friendly and child-safe facilities, with quality accommodation to keep the older family members happy.”

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Asia and the Pacific could be the places to head for globetrotters still mulling over where to go first as they head to Heathrow, Stansted or Gatwick on bus or coach.

For research by the United National World Travel Organisation (UNWTO) has found those regions are the world’s most “open” for tourists when it comes to having to have a visa to visit. And the organisation says that could have knock-on benefits for those regions’ economic growth.

Only a fifth of world travellers need a special visa to enter countries in Asia and the Pacific, UNWTO found, with 20% of the world’s population not requiring a visa to visit countries in Asia. A further fifth can get a visa when they arrive and another 8% are able to get one online before setting off on their travels.

Although 21% of the world’s population do not need a visa to visit destinations in Europe, a lot fewer can get one on arrival or in advance online, making it the “least open” to tourists, the research found.
Taleb Rifai, UNWTO’s secretary general, said tourists could be put off visiting some countries or regions by nations imposing strict entry requirements.
He added: “An overall restrictive visa policy means lost opportunities for economic growth and jobs, which tourism could bring to destinations.”

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Legendary Hollywood actor Robert Redford has been inspired to take the Sundance Film Festival elsewhere following the success of the recent London event.
The76-year-old teamed up with venues firm AEG to launch the inaugural Sundance London last year and is eyeing up Brazil as another potential host of the popular winter film festival.

The four-day Sundance London festival made its British debut at The O2 Arena in Greenwich last April and Redford was impressed enough to confirm its return this April.
Speaking to Television Business International (TBI), Redford said: “It has given me confidence to do it elsewhere, but that confidence scares me, it’s a very dangerous thing to have.
“I am interested in doing that because of the (London) success and because of the invitations we’ve been receiving from other parts of the world. The part that interests me most is Brazil. I think Rio would be a very good place to go.”

Last year’s spin-off event in London showcased titles first seen at the original Sundance Film Festival, which is held in Park City, Utah, every January.
Many holidaymakers have combined Sundance with a skiing holiday in and around Park City, although tourists face a 32-mile airport transfer after jetting in from London Heathrow to Salt Lake City.

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The Bulgarian tourism board will launch a new initiative in September in a bid to tempt twice as many visitors to the country in the next 10 to 15 years.

Deputy minister of economy, energy and tourism, Ivo Marinov, hopes ‘a discovery to share’ will encourage 25 per cent growth between now and 2018.
Past surveys conducted by the tourism board showed nine in 10 people who visit Bulgaria enjoy their stay, which will hearten tourist chiefs as they aim to attract more holidaymakers.

Tourists flock to attractions like the Alexander Nevski Church in Sofia, the Roman Theatre in Plovdiv and the Sea Garden in Varna.
The St Alexander Nevsky Cathedral is among the largest Eastern Orthodox cathedrals in the world and acts as one of the capital’s symbols and major tourist attractions.
Philippopolis is a historical building in the city centre of Plovdiv that was constructed during the reign of Emperor Trajan between 98 and 117 AD.

Bulgaria also boasts beautiful sandy beaches along the Black Sea coast and affordable ski resorts, which encourage beginners to hit the slopes without spending over the odds.
British holidaymakers keen to sample what Bulgaria has to offer can fly to the eastern European nation from major UK airports such as Heathrow and Gatwick.

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Brazil certainly knows how to throw a samba-fuelled party – it is one of the reasons why we are all excited about the next World Cup and Olympic Games being in Rio.
But while those events are a little while away yet, one of the city’s most luxurious and exotic hotels is laying on a big celebration of its own.

The legendary Copacabana Palace, which has been graced by a host of famous faces such as Marilyn Monroe and Nelson Mandela, has just entered its 90th year.
To mark the occasion, work was completed late last year on renovations, which cost a total of 20 million US dollars.
If following in the footsteps of some of the world’s biggest stars wasn’t enough to inspire people to get down to their nearest airport and fly over for a stay at the Copacabana Palace, the contemporary makeover might be.

As part of the overhaul, guests can expect to enjoy redesigned rooms, restructured bathrooms and improvements to the renowned Cipriani Restaurant.
Tourists have flown in from near and far to enjoy the delights on offer at the Cipriani, but as part of the changes they will be able to sample the menu straight from the kitchen as a result of the new ‘table du chef’ option.

Londoners flying in from Stansted, Luton, Heathrow or Gatwick will also be blown away by the legendary Copacabana beach setting – it’s so good they made a song about it.
The glorious white sandy beach is something we can only dream of in this country – and it’s about as far away from the hustle and bustle of the capital’s streets as you can get.
However, sceneries to savour are not simply confined to the outdoors, after the hotel lobby’s original ceiling was discovered during the renovation work.
It has been fully restored to its original splendour to provide yet another hallmark of history in what is a massive year for the hotel.

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The Canadian Tourism Commission has announced that the country will host a number of food festivals in 2013.

Canada has become an increasingly popular destination for UK travellers, with eastern city Toronto – its cultural, entertainment and financial capital – offering a different type of holiday to one you would enjoy on the west coast in Vancouver and Whistler.

As well as the lure of snow-laden mountains, picturesque scenery and landmarks such as the Niagara Falls, holidaymakers now have another reason to head over the Atlantic – food.
Modern Corn and Apple Festival, Feast!, PEI International Shellfish Festival and Jerkfest will be open to tourists across the country.
Jerkfest is to take place in Toronto over two days during August. As well as offering food, 20 sellers will give the fest even more Jamaican flavour in the form of reggae music.
Modern Corn and Apple Festival, hosted in Manitoba, will also take place in the summer holidays, in August’s fourth week. The free corn on offer to visitors is cooked with the help of steam-engine-heated water.

PEI International Shellfish Festival will take place in Charlottetown in September and will last four days. The Prince Edward Island capital offers some of its finest shellfish like mussels and oysters during the festival.

With flights leaving daily from Stansted, Heathrow and Gatwick, it has never been easier to jump on a plane and experience the delights of Canada.

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Close to four million Britons will travel overseas during the holidays, leaving those who opt to stay home coping with more of a wet Christmas than a white one.

A good number of travellers going abroad plan to make the best of this year’s abundant snowfall on ski slopes.
People looking for sunshine in the winter are heading to the Canary Islands, Cuba, Mexico and Tunisia.

Meanwhile, back in the UK, there is an expectation that roads will be jammed on Friday, even though roadworks on several important routes have been finished or will be stopped during the holidays.
Weather reports are predicting widespread and heavy rainfall for most of the coming days, while temperatures will be much higher than normal, reaching up to 14C (57F) on Sunday in southern England.

On Friday Heathrow is anticipating its peak holiday travel day, as 123,000 travellers are due to take off from the airport in west London.
An additional 114,000 passengers are expected to depart on Sunday and 88,000 will be taking off on Christmas Eve.

Between Friday and January 3, Gatwick airport is expecting to handle a total of 700,000 departures, while Manchester will see 320,000 depart, Stansted another 300,000, Luton will see 125,000, Birmingham will handle 116,000 and Glasgow will see 75,000 departures.

Abta travel group reported that the favourite international destinations for new year celebrations were Paris, Reykjavik, Rome, Dublin and New York.

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Travellers from the UK and elsewhere may soon have an extra reason to visit India as authorities are weighing up plans to turn Matheran into a new entertainment hub.

The place is currently a quaint old hill station not far from Mumbai, but it is reportedly readying itself to be transformed into an entertainment and leisure hot spot for tourists.
Officials are considering proposals to introduce casinos, discotheques, music halls and other facilities to the area in order to attract more visitors, according to the country’s leading English daily newspaper the Times of India.

The only casinos on offer to holidaymakers heading to India at the moment are located in the popular beach destination of Goa in the west of the country, so the introduction of more in Matheran would be a landmark decision.

The area is currently known for its peacefulness and the hill station has been granted heritage status by the local authorities, but that peace and quiet may be about to change if the plans get the go ahead.
Its location close to Mumbai, one of the busiest international gateways into India and the country’s financial hub, makes it ideal in one respect.

And it would be easily accessible from the UK, with regular flights to Mumbai from London Gatwick and Heathrow and only about another 90km to travel to reach Matheran itself.

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It’s a far cry from the airport bus to Heathrow or Gatwick but eco-conscious travellers who began their journey by taking the green airport transfer option can now explore a rainforest hideaway in South America.

A new airstrip has opened at Boca Manu, opening up Peru’s Manu National Park and its ancient rainforest, wildlife and waterfalls to tourists.
That means the national park – part of the Manu Biosphere Reserve UNESCO World Heritage Site – can now be reached from Cusco, the historic capital of the Inca Empire in south-eastern Peru, in under two hours.

Until recently visitors couldn’t stay in the park. But now the Romero Rainforest Lodge has been opened on the banks of the Manu River, enabling them to stay in one of eight thatched bungalows with ‘en suite wildlife’.

And while they’re there, holidaymakers can see what the park has to offer thanks to group tours led by biologists. Taking visitors on a trail that runs through the park, the tours incorporate stays at the lodge, with a chance to see the black caiman, a crocodile-like reptile, and wild boar known as peccaries.

Other wildlife highlights include giant otters swimming in the park’s lakes and spider monkeys swinging from tree to tree in the canopy above the rainforest, while hawk-eagles can be seen in the skies above and macaws, parrots and parakeets in the trees closer to ground level.

Nine iconic Egyptian hotels visited by the likes of Sir Winston Churchill and Princess Diana are to undergo a £31.3 million refurbishment next year.

All nine are owned by the Egyptian government, which has vowed never to sell them off and instead launched plans to renovate them under the ‘Historic Hotels of Egypt’ banner.
The hotels have been selected for their architectural or historical significance, or because famous guests have slept within their walls.

From 2013, visitors will be able to fly out from Heathrow or Gatwick and stay in beautiful hotels like the Cairo Marriott Hotel, Mena House Oberoi and Nile Ritz Carlton Cairo, which recall Egypt’s heyday
The nine historic hotels of Egypt are owned by the Egyptian General Company for Tourism and Hotels (EGOTH), a subsidiary of the state-owned Holding Company for Tourism, Hotels and Cinema (HOTAC).
The Egyptian government intends to closely manage the historic assets so that the hotels can compete with Egypt’s growing private hotel sector.

EGOTH chairman Essam Abdel Hady said: “This is an important time for the Egyptian hotel industry.” He added: “These historic buildings have now been protected by the government and will never be sold to outside investors. “As part of this commitment, these properties will continue to undergo total renovation to bring them back to their former glory whilst conserving their original features.