The Maldives are set to be the sizzling hot destination of the year, thanks to new airport and hotel openings which promise to make the islands more accessible to travellers.

One of the most hotly-anticipated new hotels is Maalifushi by COMO, set to open its doors in October.
Located on a long stretch of sand surrounded by turquoise waters on the eastern side of Thaa Atoll, one of the less-visited islands in the Maldives, the property features a chain of luxurious villas rising out of the water.

The resort’s interiors have been designed by Koichiro Ikebuchi, who worked on the COMO Shambhala Estate in Bali and Bangkok’s Nahm restaurant. Featuring thatched roofs, marble-top tables, stone bathrooms and even – in some cases – private pools, they offer privacy and luxury in equal measure.

Two restaurants are available; Madi, for Maldivian food, and Tai, which serves Japanese cuisine and has a teppanyaki grill. The resort features its own private island, where picnics can be taken.
For the adventurous, Maalifushi also offers scuba-diving trips in search of manta rays and whale sharks and its own dive centre. For guests wishing to stay in the shallows, excursions are available in which a resident marine biologist guides snorkellers around the house reef looking for anemone fish, butterfly fish and silvery wrasse.

Copyright © Press Association 2013

Demand for global air travel is growing again thanks to improved business confidence, especially in emerging markets.

February saw a 3.7% rise in the number of passengers compared with the same month last year. This is positive news for UK airports such as Heathrow and Stansted, where traveller numbers are still some way short of their 2007 peak.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) said the figure masked the fact that passenger demand had been growing at an annualised rate of 9% since October, almost double the rate during the first nine months of 2012.

The industry load factor stood at a record high of 77.1% as airlines have improved their management of capacity expansion, helping to keep the industry profitable despite high oil prices.
IATA’s chief executive Tony Tyler said: “Demand for air travel continues to rise on economic optimism and improved business confidence. Much of the growth is concentrated on emerging markets. Europe continues to be a laggard.”
On Tuesday, the airline industry body predicted that the global air cargo market will see a steady recovery unless a fresh blow to confidence from the eurozone reverses the trend.
IATA represents 240 airlines operating 84% of global air traffic. Domestic flights are excluded from its data.

Copyright Press Association 2013

Tanzania is the best place in the world to see animals in their natural habitat, according to a tourism survey.
The “wow factor” of the Serengeti National Park and the Ngorongoro Crater Conservation Area, which are home to the big five wildlife attractions – lions, elephants, buffaloes, leopards and rhinos – was the main reason for the country topping a poll of the Virtual Tourist community.

Visitors to Tanzania can also see the Great Migration, when more than a million wildebeest and hundreds of thousands of zebra leave the Serengeti for the Maasai Mara after the birth of their young in the spring, before setting off again in October and arriving back at the Serengeti in December.
This natural spectacle sees the animals battle against a number of hazards, including some of Africa’s biggest predators, and anyone wanting to see this unforgettable sight as part of a tailor-made holiday can get a flight from Heathrow.

The Great Migration feat has also been recognised in a newly revised list of the Seven Natural Wonders of Africa, putting it alongside other big attractions such as Mount Kilimanjaro and the Ngorongoro Crater.
The Serengeti National Park also picked up another honour, being crowned overall winner at the International Awards in Tourism, Hotel and Catering.

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The most sought after seat on a standard aircraft is seat 6A, according to research by a flight comparison website.

Skyscanner investigated the seat preferences of over 1,000 regular air travel passengers, also delving deeper to find out if these choices are influenced by lucky numbers or odd or even row numbers.
While seat 6A is the most popular seat, 31E, situated towards the back of the aircraft and in the middle, is the seat that no-one wants.
The front six rows of the plane are the most desired among travellers, taking 45% of the votes. Being situated near the front has its perks as its easier to get off the plane, there is less engine noise and there is often a better choice of food available.

Meanwhile, almost 60% of passengers prefer the window seat, especially those looking to get some sleep on long-haul flights.
On the other hand 40% opt for the aisle, including tall passengers looking to stretch out their legs and people who take more trips to the toilet.
Less than 1% choose a middle seat, and Sam Baldwin, Skyscanner’s Travel Editor, said the research highlights some interesting preferences among travellers.
“There is always a great rush to get on board and get that favoured seat,” he commented. “I just hope that the low cost carriers don’t find out that there is such demand for seat 6A and start charging a premium for it!”

Copyright Press Association 2013

Surfing fans across the UK may want to consider heading to airports such as Stansted, Luton, and Heathrow to catch a flight to Morocco after a fishing village in the north African country emerged as a top spot to ride the waves.

Although a world away from more illustrious surfing destinations such as Hawaii or Australia’s Gold Cost, Taghazout boasts swells of around four to five metres.
According to Moroccan surfing professional, Boukel Simo, the village offers some of the best surfing opportunities around. A surf festival held at the destination in December, the first one ever to take place in Morocco, caught the attention of surfers across Europe.

And now more people are heading to Taghazout after becoming tired of the cold and ice in the waters in northern Europe over the winter. Mohammed, who repairs surfboards in the village, said people have started coming from all over Europe to take to the waters in Taghazout.

With warm sunshine, blue skies and an average water temperature of 19 degrees, it is easy to see why an increasing number of surfers are attracted to the area.
Taghazout is also easily accessible because Agadir Internatio Airport is just a short drive away.

The village now hosts numerous “surf camps” and offers accommodation and courses in a water sport that has flourished since the 1990s. Surfboards lie alongside fishing boats pulled up on the beach at Taghazout, where the tourism trade has provided work for locals.

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The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) has added an additional six cultural traditions to its List of Intangible Cultural Heritage, and extended one.

The traditions were added to the list after being selected by a Unesco committee, which is meeting at the organisation’s headquarters in Paris this week.
In order to be listed by Unesco, traditions have to meet a number of requirements, including contributing to spreading the knowledge of intangible cultural heritage and promoting awareness of its importance.

Six new traditions were added to the list and the entry for falconry – of countries that traditionally engage in the activity – was extended to include Austria and Hungary, in addition to Saudi Arabia, Belgium, the United Arab Emirates, Spain, France, Morocco, Mongolia, Qatar, Syria, the Republic of Korea and the Czech Republic.
The new traditions on the list came from Oman, Romania, Spain, Turkey, Venezuela and Vietnam.

Every year in Vietnam, pilgrims converge in Phú Tho to commemorate their ancestors and pray for good weather and good harvests during the Worship of Hùng kings.
The committees said it had decided to include this tradition on the list because the communities make delicacies, enact verbal and folk art performances, and compete to provide high valued objects of worship.
From Turkey they choose to add the Mesir Macunu festival of Manisa, which celebrates the recovery of Suleiman the Magnificent’s mother from unknown disease thanks to a medicinal paste known as ‘mesir macunu’ .

Every March, thousands of people travel from all over Turkey to take part in the festival and compete to catch ‘mesir macunu’, which is prepared, wrapped in paper and scattered from the domes of the Sultan Mosque
Those taking part believe that the paste will make their wishes for marriage, work and children come true within a year.

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Tech-savvy youngsters are leading the way when it comes to booking holidays on mobile phones and tablet computers, research shows.

Nearly half (47%) of those aged 15-24 have used either a smartphone or a tablet device such as an iPad to source and pay for their overseas break, the Abta study found.

This compares with a tenth (11%) of over-45s who have used a mobile device to make their holiday booking in the past 12 months.
Foreign holidays were the most popular bookings via mobile devices, with 14% of the 2,000 people surveyed having booked an overseas trip on their smartphone, while a tenth had booked on a tablet.

Mobile devices make surfing the internet for the latest holiday deals and flights from Stansted and other airports accessible wherever you are, meaning you are more likely to bag a bargain.
However, the PC and laptop are still by far the most popular method of booking package holidays, flights, hotels or airport transfers – some 89% of those who have booked a holiday on the internet did so on their main computer.

Victoria Bacon, head of communications at Abta, said the poll showed customers want choice when it comes to how they book their holidays, ranging from the traditional high street travel agent to the flexible, on-the-go mobile option.

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Peru’s international advertising campaign is expected to reach 245 million people, according to the country’s Export and Tourism Promotion Board (PromPeru).

María del Carmen de Reparaz, PromPeru’s tourism director, revealed “Peru, Empire of Hidden Treasures” and its slogan “Don’t watch the movie, live it” has already hit 199,999 views on YouTube.

The campaign is currently in 12 countries, including United Kingdom, Chile, Canada, USA, Brazil, France, Germany, Spain and Italy, and will be released in the Republic of Korea, China, Japan, Australia and Mexico in 2013. Bus stations already run the campaign, while the videos are also shown at Cinemark cinemas in South America.

August 2011 marked a new challenge for PromPeru, said de Reparaz. She revealed that the country needed to attract more tourists in a context of the economic crisis in Europe and the United States, and promote the country as a destination for Peruvians.

“The first strategy was to develop a campaign that will help us to introduce Peru as a multi-destination country and not as a mono-destination one, as we had worked in recent years promoting Machu Picchu,” she explained. In doing so, it is hoped more tourists who fly from destinations such as Stansted Airport will come to visit the country’s attractions and soak up all that Peru has to offer.

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British eco-tourists considering a trip to India to observe tigers in their natural habitat could do worse than venturing up to the northern border with Bhutan.

Wildlife conservationists from the Royal Manas National Park (RMNP) and Manas National Park (MNP) confirmed the presence of 14 rare Royal Bengal tigers in the north-eastern state of Assam, which included six tigresses across the trans-boundary area. The news was welcomed by the 13 countries in Asia which are home to tigers in the wild, and have joined forces in an attempt to double the worldwide tiger population from an estimated 3,500 by the end of the decade.

The RMNP covers 1,057sq km and is situated on the southern foothills of the Himalayas, stretching through parts of Zhemgang, Sarpang and Pemagatshel. Its southern border connects to 500sq km of the MNP, which is found in the Baksa and Chirang districts of Bodoland territorial council in Assam.

Tenzin Wangchuk, manager of the RMNP, said conservations were able to observe the movements of the eight tigers and six tigresses by using 204 camera traps worth around $300 each. They hope to capture tigers in their core habitats and watch them breed over the next seven years. Wangchuk added that each tiger and tigress was photographed and identified by distinguishable stripes to avoid double-counting the tiger population.

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With the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics heading to Brazilian shores, interest in visiting the country could be set to peak. But there are much more “once-in-a-lifetime” experiences to be had in Brazil than simply sport, according to the country’s tourist agency Embratur.

The South American country is making major infrastructure investments ahead of these showpiece events, with airports and airport transfers being boosted along with levels of accommodation.
Marco Pedroso, Embratur’s director of international markets, said there was a vast variety of attractions available, including national parks and cities like Manaus – a gateway to the Amazon.
He said: “Brazil is definitely becoming a popular destination for visitors seeking a once-in-a-lifetime trip. Brazil is the perfect destination for travellers seeking diversity and culture.”

Although Rio will host the Olympics, and several locations will enjoy an influx of football crazy fans for the World Cup, there is a wealth of potential destinations in this vast country. One unusual retreat for tourists in Brazil is Fernando de Noronha, a 21-island archipelago located around 217 miles off the coast.

The Embratur spokesman said that the location, which has been recognised by Unesco as a World Heritage site, has an important ecological function, being a nesting ground favoured by marine birds and turtles. It is also a hallowed spot for scuba divers, boasting a variety of marine life, shipwrecks, coral reefs and rock formations.