America stays at home for Thanksgiving

Economic factors are perceived to be at the root of a tendency not to travel this year compared to previous years for the same period, roads rail and airports normally busy at his time are showing few signs of holiday traffic despite fuel prices coming down and some tempting last minute deals being offered.
Travelers were not greeted with the usual queues and hold-up and were able to freely move through even the busiest of airports. there were security concerns in New York following the belief that an Al Qaida plot might be in the offing timed to coincide with Thanksgiving.
Air travel was hit hardest with a drop of around 7% compared with last year, road travel has dropped by just 1%. Many people are counting the cost of these trips and deciding to stay at home and keep the extra cash in their pockets or bank account.

Aldi joins the travel marketplace

This is not a new venture for the German-owned supermarket chain, they already have travel divisions in other countries. They have combined forces with 'On Holiday' and 'Eurotours' International to provide around 150 well-priced deals on a new website: alditravel.co.uk.
The website launches in January 2009, in the meantime, work is going on behind the scenes to prepare the portfolio.
The Aldi brand was launched in Germany by the Albrecht brothers when they took over their mother's grocery store in 1946. Though they are now retired, they remain in fact, the richest men in Germany.

QE2 runs aground

The world-famous liner named after Queen Elizabeth, the QE2 ran aground outside her home port of Southampton on what is to be her penultimate voyage before finding rest in Dubai.

Several tugs were sent to aid her and freed her just after 6am this morning. She was returning after a 15-night Mediterranean cruise to take part in a Remembrance Day ceremony before her final voyage. The liner will set sail for Dubai this evening after a final leaving party, arriving in her resting place on Nov 26th. She will become the property of the Nakheel company, the creators of the Palm Jumeirah, the largest man-made island in the world, taking up a permanent docking after extensive refurbishment.

Regarding the incident this morning, a spokesman has reported: "No-one on board has been injured. A lot of people will have been in bed when it happened and not have noticed."

Skiing in Norway

Although I have never actually tried skiing, of all the places that you can ski, Norway offers resorts that often have snow for six months of the year. Of course skiing holidays are almost always located in breath-taking locations and Ski Holidays Norway are a great example of stunning landscapes and a rich culture.
Resorts like Voss have been accommodating visitors for two hundred years and have a charm that is second to none. It is just over an hours drive from Bergen Airport and offers all sorts of activities to complement your skiing vacation. Not only are there mountain-related activities like snow-boarding and hiking, but the more adventurous holiday-makers might want to try kayaking, para-sailing, rafting and horse-riding.
The Norwegian resorts can truly offer a complete package of relaxing off-piste activities as well as some more exhilarating activities both on and off the snow. Resorts of this type are experts at catering for the entire family and have something to offer all age groups regardless of how competent they are on their skis.
Your days off from the slopes could find you visiting Bergen - a city of rich history and culture dating back one thousand years, or visiting the Hardanger and Sogn fjords, amongst the most well-known and impressive sights in Scandanavia.

North Africa gains popularity

North Africa has benefited from investments in recent years, and coupled with lower air fares this area is expecting growth which could see visitors from the UK double compared with figures from three or four years ago. Morocco will be the main benefactor of these 'travel dollars' and has proven to be popular, with destinations like Tangier, Casablanca, Marrakesh on offer, the lure of the African continent is now affordable whilst remaining exotic.

Morocco is only one geographical step on from Southern Europe and can be reached in only three hours, it offers cultural delights, fantastic architecture and landscapes. All good places have their down-sides however, and a note of caution needs to be injected as last year tourists were targeted by suicide bombers in Casablanca.

Lufhansa grows ever larger

The German national airline Lufthansa is building it's portfolio in order to raise it's profile at Heathrow as a competitor to BA. Lufthansa has acquired BMI giving it a combined portion of around 15% of Heathrow slots, but the ambition doesn't stop there.
Not content with playing distant second to the dominance of BA, Lufthansa have their eyes on:

• Austrian Airlines
• SAS
• Alitalia

These three companies or at least stakes in them are in Lufthansa's sights to add to their growing business, industry commentators are concerned that this could reduce competition and drive up fares.

Insurance industry remains nervous

The problems with XL have made the insurance industry wary of the travel sector, of course XL were insured by AIG, itself under threat of collapse even without the increased pressure of the XL failure.
In a shock move, Insurance company Euler Hermes, a travel insurance specialist has seen fit to withdraw cover from one of it's clients leaving them potentially exposed despite assurances from the travel company that holidays that have been sold will not be affected in any way.
This development compounds some of the current problems such as the struggling travel industry and the struggling financial houses, neither of which will becoming stable any time soon in the current economic climate. One can't help but feel that there will be more travel industry heads to roll before the next holiday season is over.