Egypt has been one of the success stories of the last few years. Blessed with a fascinating culture, beaches on the Red Sea and a heritage that is second to none, Egypt could be seen as almost the perfect destination. Everything is there.

Now there will be more as they develop the “White Med” which is the coastline west of Alexandria and towards El Alamein and beyond

Croatia is not yet a member of the EU so is outside the eurozone. That may be why visitors from Britain rose by 2%. The Croatians like us. Apart from the fact we are only the 10th largest country in terms of visitors we spend a lot more than many others so they will encourage us to visit by offering value for money and that all important price difference.

The Maldives has been in the news quite a lot recently. Their cabinet, you might remember, held a cabinet meeting under water to highlight the effects of climate change. When you think of the Maldives the first thought is of a luxury holiday location. Now the tourism authority is trying to encourage 3 and 4 star hotels so that there is more on offer to suit every pocket. Independent travellers like backpackers are also welcome and will find it easier to get around as new infrastructure projects are completed.

Kicking off WTM is a forecast of what can be expected in the future and this comes from the research firm, Euromonitor. In 2009 they think that we will have flown 14% less, stays in hotels will be down by 16% and overall tourism will be down by 8%. The market for luxury holidays won’t recover before 2013 they think. But in the UK, they have highlighted a trend for pop-up hotels. These are almost prefabricated hotels that can be put up and taken down quickly. They are cheap to construct and cheap to stay in.