We live in exciting times and this is especially true for holiday goers. The status quo has been shaken up, and whilst economic upheaval isn’t something we especially want, that is a major positive. With some of the old favourites struggling, the last few years have really seen a great number of astonishing new holiday markets open up. This is fortunate for the world weary traveller. This isn’t to say that the existing brochures are about to be pulped entirely. But there are those of us who, happy as we are with every new tropical paradise, can’t help by notice the crippling similarities with their first Barbados holidays. An increasing number of travellers aren’t just looking for something different either: there’s the obvious consequence that tight finances result in savvy customers after the best deals. Many new markets are poised to swoop on such custom.

Don’t be scared off the tropical zones just because a few all-too-similar excursions. Island confinement is perhaps part of the problem. There’s only so much you can cram onto an island. Oh sure, it’s more than enough for a decade of great holidays but some of us have been doing that thing for a decade now. The tropics don’t duck and weave around the continents: you can get the same weather with much more to show for it. Thailand holidays often present a wonderful compromise: many resorts are located to give you the best of both worlds. The Thai islands have all the white sandy beaches, blue skies and azure seas you can shake a parasol at. But continental Thailand is rarely ever 30 kilometres away from the main island resorts, keeping the ancient treasures of Siamese civilization only ever an arms reach away.

And whilst the Far East thrives, the Middle East is establishing itself firmly also. The last decade saw Western perception of the region continually challenged and evolving. But attitudes are slowly giving way to a perspective of the Middle East that does justice to the centuries of technological and economical innovation that the region has always deserved. Dubai holidays are the poster-child of the new Middle East. The news through the recession years was dominated by their impressive construction projects, and tourists are increasingly journeying there in search of phenomenal free-trade deals.

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