Santa's Kingdom 2008

As regular as Santa coming down the chimney at Christmas, the travel industry provides a stark warning of tough times for the coming year, rising prices, poor research reservations.

But 2008 was an exception to what could be a record number of bookings for the winter holidays is not fair, but the deposits posed for summer vacation.

Almost all traditional travel agents and travel sites online indicate a renewed interest with many translated into reservations in the Christmas period.

ABTA, Association of British Travel Agents, which safeguards the interests of consumers for travelers in the United Kingdom, put up holiday bookings down to the terrible weather in the country last summer.

The ABTA weather refer to the floods that affected large parts of England, claimed four lives and left hundreds of thousands of homes without water for two weeks in parts of Gloucestershire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire .

Insurance companies have warned that floods in the end inexpensively million companies, and insurers have handled tens of millions in claims from homeowners. The British government has provided emergency assistance to areas most affected to help with the cost of clearing. Yorkshire in northern England saw some of the heaviest flooding, with thousands of homes without power and three people die.

Included in vacation areas have benefited from the outbreak of booking are Malta, Tenerife, Menorca, Majorca and Lanzarote - some favorites from previous years.

Early reports from Malta suggest that the holiday island had a better year for tourism in 2007 and is currently studying how it can broaden its appeal to attract more tourists to the island in the Mediterranean sun. Malta Airport saw a record number of passenger flights arriving in 2007 thanks to the low cost airlines bringing additional visitors, and 2008 promises to be even busier as more competition arrives.

The Canary Islands are organizing a winter festival of classical music and hopes to increase its visitors before the start of the summer. The fourth largest island of Lanzarote, named after its red mountains, will host several upcoming festival. Lanzarote is well known for its picturesque volcanic landscape. It is perhaps equally well known for its futuristic and controlled development of the fauna and flora.

Another of the Canary Islands, Tenerife is known for its winter climate attracts tourists and nearly three and a half million a year on its 2034 km picturesque square. Most tourism in Tenerife is from the United Kingdom, followed by Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Italy and France, among many others . The island is home to many beautiful resorts, including the Playas de las Americas and Los Cristianos. In fact, recent legislation has been enacted to ensure that any future resort construction must either be in the condition of five-star luxury resort offering not like golf courses or banquet.

It is likely that both Tenerife and Lanzarote will have their first quarter figures for tourism up in 2008, and if bookings continue as they have been can expect a good 2008.