The 2 Week Holiday - Back For 2011
It used to be so easy. A family holiday was taken in August, lasted for two weeks, and it would be another year before the routine was repeated - often in the same location, and often in the same hotel or accommodation.
But with cheap travel and budget airlines, more leisure time, easy credit and good times economically the holidays industry was transformed in the nineties and changed to adapt to people's expectations.
The advent of the internet and subsequent use by ordinary people made travelling abroad easier as well, suddenly people were able to become their own travel agent and could compare all the deals from the comfort of their own home or office to tailor make their ideal holiday.
Researching an area became possible too, making days out easier to organise, and if for example you were booking Menorca holidays no longer was a daily newspaper's around the world weather section the main source of information and overall a multitude of internet sites allowed the tourist to be well informed of what was available.
But perhaps the biggest change that came with cheaper travel was the possibility of having multiple holidays a year, often for just a weekend or for a few days, allowing people to enjoy various destinations at different times of the year.
No longer was the once a year two week holiday the norm. A weekend in Barcelona? A week in the winter to Gran Canaria? With cheap flights and hotels staying open throughout the winter season all of this became possible, and the holidays market truly changed from the previous decade.
A mix of two, three, seven and ten day trips became commonplace, and often people would be taking three or four holidays a year, discovering places they had never seen before while still visiting places they had liked in the past.
But this new found freedom to see the world came to a screeching halt when Lehman Brothers collapsed in September 2008, precipitating the banking crises that sent shockwaves through the world's economy - and the travel industry that had been doing so well experienced a reversal in fortunes.
A lot of people - but not all - have cut back on their travel expenditure since then, with some holidaying at home, while many others cut the number of trips they were taking from three or four to one or two, and with the economy still jittery a return to the annual two weeks is one of the trends anticpated by many in the travel world for 2011.
Not necessarly bad news for Menorca, which is a family orientated island and the quietest of the Balearic Islands, while at the same time offering family attractions for visits, with accommodation at the Menorca hotels enjoying a good reputation and an overall picture of a first class Mediterranean location for a vacation.
And for those who prefer somewhere that is more of a home from home, there is an excellent choice of villas available in the different towns and villages of the island, including Cala En Porter, Cala'n Bosch and Son Bou, available for one or two weeks duration, and many of the villa companies include Menorca flights plus if wanted car hire too.
2011 might well see the return of the two week holiday, and it could be a trend that will benefit the island's holiday industry.
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