CD-Traveller has the low-down on what’s hot in the travel world, right now

Save as they samba: British Pound 17 per cent stronger vs Brazilian Real compared to 12 months ago; that’s an extra £86.78 in holidaymakers’ pockets for every £500 spent

Britons heading off on a gap year over the coming months can make their money stretch further by avoiding the more traditional destinations and heading instead to Brazil, India, Nepal and South Africa

Britons heading to Europe this summer, hoping to cash in on the Eurozone crisis, may do better to look at some of the countries outside of the Eurozone, according to research carried out by Moneycorp.

Lark Ellen Gould reveals why Durban – aka South Africa’s seaside playground – repays a visit

Robben Island and Table Mountain lure most tourists to Cape Town but it’s the Cape Winelands that will convince them to stay, says Lark Ellen Gould

Lark Gould discovers another side to the South African city of Durban

Britain’s economy may be in recession, but its currency is flying high. The Pound has strengthened against a basket of international currencies

Trips to Malta, Cyprus, South Africa and Canada beat UK inflation

That’s what South Africa suggests you do this winter. So why not visit Cape Town?

That there is a Zulu name for Durban in South Africa – eThekwini, gives a strong hint as to what the visitor might see in this region. For Durban is the gateway to the Kwale-Zulu area of South Africa and every school child knows of the skills and awe in which the Zulu people were held.

CD Traveller reader, Olivia Keith, takes us on a tour of four of her favourite destinations

Amy Sharpe from eWaterways tells us where she likes to holiday. She is running the London marathon on April 17th for a charity called ‘Shelter Box’ which sends out emergency relief boxes (each box contains a 6 man tent, first aid box, water makers, pots and pans, sleeping bags etc) to countries that have suffered major catastrophes.

e-Waterways will be at the Cruise Show at London’s Olympia this weekend

The travel industry, like every other, is always trying to second guess what visitors want, where they want to go to and how they might book. Research presented yesterday by Euromonitor, a big player in travel research suggests that by 2015, up to 50% of us could be booking our holidays and travel via our mobile phones.

It’s never too early to start planning your next holiday. CD Traveller lets you in on where to have a warm, white Christmas

CD Traveller reader, Maryann Noronha, takes us on a tour of her five favourite destinations

In London yesterday, just a few days before the first match was the South African Minister for Tourism, Marthinus Van Schalkwyk. You would have thought he would be at home and welcoming visitors heading to the most high profile sporting piece of tourism that South Africa has held. But no, he was here addressing about 70 journalists and members of the travel community.
Why?
One reason was to emphasise that tourism was so important to the developing world and that after the World Cup was over, a marketing campaign would begin over here to encourage us to visit South Africa. They want to make it clear that South Africa wants visitors at any time of the year and the World Cup lasts for just a month.

It is a truth universally accepted by the visitor that if there is an attractive event, then locals will load the prices of accommodation, travel, airfares and everything else to try and make even more money. Air fares during the BA strike for example, seemed a lot higher than had been quoted previously by rival airlines. Accommodation prices for the Ryder Cup in south east Wales were, how shall I put this, fully explored for maximum benefit for some providers a little while ago but is now becoming a bit more realistic.
And the same seems to be the case in South Africa. One villa, according to Fleewinter the specialist accommodation provider, wanted to charge £3500+ per night for a villa that slept 12. The minimum rental was 5 days making the total cost £17,500. And you still had to pay for airfares and food and local travel on top. That works out at just under £1,500 per person just to share a room! Another wanted to charge £17,685 for a villa sleeping 18. Talk about taking the Michael.

Whether you’re staycation-ing or vacationing, CD Traveller tells you what’s happening in the travel world

Summer 2010 will see South Africa stage football’s greatest show: the FIFA World Cup. The games will be held in nine cities including Durban. The city has been pouring millions of rand into new infrastructure including a state-of-the-art football ground, The Durban Stadium, which will seat no fewer than 70,000 fans.
But there’s more to South Africa’s third largest city than the FIFA World Cup Finals. Local resident, Heather Reed, reveals why South Africa’s seaside playground rivals Cape Town as the Rainbow Nation’s most popular tourist destination…

Whether you’re staycation-ing or vacationing, CD Traveller tells you what’s happening in the travel world

Just before Christmas, we mentioned a few ideas that some of the experts thought would flourish in 2010. Today we have the thoughts of another four groups on what they think, ABTA, IPK, STA Travel and the Intercontinental Hotels chain. You might remember that Mintel thought it would be another year of the staycation with days out and weekend breaks becoming more prominent. And Euromonitor forecast the rise of pop up hotels which could be assembled (and taken down) quickly and which would offer inexpensive accommodation.
ABTA (Association of British Travel Agents) says that Sri Lanka, Mexico and Thailand will see more tourists from the UK than they had in 2009.