The most popular eastern ski hubs are Krakow in Poland, Sofia in Bulgaria, Bratislava in Slovakia and Ljubljana in Slovenia. The trends reflect the search for better value skiing combined with cheap flights this winter in light of the recession and strong Euro.

Further evidence for this trend comes from a recent Skyscanner poll which asked skiers and snowboarders whether they would be taking a ski trip this winter; 57% replied that they would, but of those, 65% said they would be heading for a cheaper option than usual.

Sam Baldwin, Skyscanner travel editor and ski expert commented on the trends:

“With an après ski pint now costing close to £8 in some French resorts, many skiers and snowboarders are looking for cheaper options this year. Eastern Europe has suffered from a stigma – some people imagine it to be all concrete communist blocks and dodgy food – but that’s completely inaccurate.

“Whilst it’s true that most resorts in Eastern and central Europe are smaller than large interlinked areas in France or Austria, they do offer plenty of great skiing in attractive alpine towns, excellent value and an interesting cultural experience.”

Skyscanner’s proprietary technology scours over 600 airlines and travel agents to find the best flight tickets. It includes flexible views showing ranges from whole year to month prices and day-to-day prices so whether it is flights to New York or a ski trip leaving on a London flight Skyscanner can find the perfect deal.

About Skyscanner:
Skyscanner is a leading travel search site based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Skyscanner provides instant online comparison on flight prices for over 670,000 routes on over 600 airlines, as well as car hire, hotel and holiday price comparison. With Skyscanner, users can browse without having to enter specific dates or even destinations, and Skyscanner is available in 20 different languages including French, German and Spanish.

Diret Traveller Summer Holidays are offered with a difference. You can avail our services and explore the most out of North Cyprus during this time. For your convenience, we have now introduced a new flight route from Stansted. To make your holidaying experience more pleasurable, we keep adding new hotels to a list of already existing ones in the catalogue such as the prestigious 5* Ottoman Palace at the heart of Kyrenia, and the 3* Majestic hotel in the traditional fishing village of Bogaz.

For all the excellent services specified above, we offer you optimum assistance whenever you need the most, right from planning your holidays to hotel accommodation.

At Direct Traveller, we offer you the perfect wedding and honeymoon packages. Fly to Northern Cyprus as we have got beautiful wedding locations in places such as Kyrenia, Famagsuta and Nicosia. We play the role of a good wedding organiser as we have years of experience in performing wedding ceremonies with ease. Our wedding arrangements include various packages for Ceremony, Celebration and Memories, which you can choose according to your requirements and situations. We assure you additional advantages such as having bilingual coordinator from the UK, who is experienced in handling wedding events with perfection. Some of the popular wedding venues that are a hit with the people include sandy beaches such as Denizkizi beach and L.A beach, gardens of the Bellapais Abbey along with the Kyrenia harbour.

Stay secure about the bookings you are make as we are ATOL protected. As Direct Traveller is licensed with Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), your money will always be safe. In case of any discrepancies, your money will be reimbursed to you at the earliest. Apart from the wedding ceremonies, we offer you perfect honeymoon packages. If you have plans of partying, we have spacious places where over 50 guests can be accommodated easily. Celebrate your anniversaries and special occasions at exotic locations of Northern Cyprus. Avail our packages and services at reasonable rates.

With the demise of an unusually high number of airlines in 2009 the industry was looking in poor shape. However, things are not all doom and gloom in 2010 with many airlines still announcing new routes for the coming year.

Cheap flights search engine Skyscanner takes a look at some of the new routes being introduced by the UK’s top budget airlines to help you cut the cost of your summer holidays this year.

“It seems that many of the budget airlines are tapping into the non-eurozone destinations again this summer suggesting that countries such as Turkey, Egypt and Croatia which were popular in 2009 are still all the rage in 2010. If you’re looking for low cost flights then consider looking outside of Europe to get some of the best deals.” says Sam Baldwin, Skyscanner Travel Editor.

EasyJet are looking East to Turkey, Hungary and Croatia, with several cheap flights to Budapest, Bodrum, Dalaman and the East coast of Croatia already announced from UK airports such as Stansted, Bristol and Liverpool.

Pegasus Airlines is also hoping to capitalise on the perception of Turkey as a cheaper alternative to eurozone countries by releasing several new routes including cheap flights to Dalaman, Istanbul, Bodrum and Antalya.

Irish favourites Ryanair have added new routes to the sun spots of Faro, Ibiza, Malta and Valencia to their list of destinations, as well as Tampere, with flights to the Finnish city available from Edinburgh from April 1st.

Regional airline Flybe has added several new French destinations for 2010, including Avignon, Bordeaux, Rennes, Limoges, and Bergerac. Channel Islands Guernsey and Jersey are also new for 2010.

Long haul flights are also seeing a resurgence with cheap flights to Sydney, Bangkok and New York also making a welcome come back to many carriers’ routes.

Skyscanner – never miss a flight

Since Skyscanner was founded in 2002, our mission has been to create the first website in the world to show every single commercial flight on earth – hence our slogan – never miss a flight

By comparing hundreds of airlines and thousands of routes, we make it easy for you never to miss a flight deal. With over 600 different carriers and 670,000 different routes listed, we’re getting closer to this goal every day.

The cheap flights search engine found that 66% voted that airport scanners were a good idea as they would speed up security checks and improve security, whilst 30% said that they disapproved, largely on health and privacy grounds. (4% gave other answers).

Over 400 people voted in the poll, and the results clearly show that most travellers were in favour of the scanners.

Barry Smith, Skyscanner co-founder and business director of Skyscanner, Europe’s leading flight comparison engine that also supplies long haul cheap flights to Sydney, which could soon be affected commented:

“As long as the machines are safe and any potential privacy issues can be solved, travellers are in favour of anything which will make flying safer and security checks faster. If it saves me from having to take my shoes off, empty my pockets and remove my belt, I’m all for them.”

The Skyscanner poll did reveal that some travellers had concerns over the safety of the scanning machines, specifically the health issues of being x-rayed. The UK’s busiest airport, Heathrow, will be one of the first airports to introduce the scanners on flights to London, however, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) say the technology is harmless, and that the amount of radiation produced is minimal, equating to what a person would naturally receive in just two minutes of flying on an airplane.

Other respondents believed that the scanners would not increase passenger safety; Skyscanner user Vasco Sotomaior left a message on Skyscanner’s Facebook page explaining his reasons for being against the scanners:

“There’s no use for it. The threat exists, but it is so little that it doesn’t justify it. The current measures are more than enough”.

Trials with the body scanners are already taking place in some airports and train stations across Europe and the US. So passengers hopping across the pond on flights to New York from several European airports could experience this new security measure soon. The technology blurs facial details ensuring that passengers cannot be recognised and images are viewed by staff in walled-off rooms where they cannot see travellers who are being checked.

Passengers who prefer not to be scanned will be able to opt for the traditional pat down check instead.

Skyscanner – never miss a flight

Since Skyscanner was founded in 2002, our mission has been to create the first website in the world to show every single commercial flight on earth – hence our slogan – never miss a flight.

By comparing hundreds of airlines and thousands of routes, we make it easy for you never to miss a flight deal. With over 600 different carriers and 670,000 different routes listed, we’re getting closer to this goal every day.

PR Contact:
Sam Baldwin
Skyscanner Ltd
Stamp Office
10 Waterloo Place
Edinburgh
EH1 3EG

44 (0)131 252 5353
www.skyscanner.net

The strike will be hitting Christmas and New Year travellers hard, coming at one of the busiest times of year for travel and disrupting plans for an estimated one million passengers, especially those taking flights to New York for the festive season.

At the time of writing, BA had not yet released details of the flights that would be affected by the strike, but some passengers are already booking alternatives, not wanting to risk the chance of being unable to reach their families at Christmas.

“We’ve already seen an 11% rise in user traffic to Skyscanner since BA’s announcement of strike action. Right now, it looks like everyone is waiting for more information; no one wants to buy another flight unless they’re sure they have to.

“But there will be big search spikes once BA release details of which flights will be affected so it’s worth checking out the alternatives now in case your flight is affected” said Sam Baldwin, Skyscanner travel expert.

If you are looking for alternative flights, visit Skyscanner.net to see what your options are.

Skyscanner – never miss a flight

Since Skyscanner was founded in 2002, our mission has been to create the first website in the world to show every single commercial flight on earth – hence our slogan – never miss a flight.

By comparing hundreds of airlines and thousands of routes, we make it easy for you never to miss a flight deal. With over 600 different carriers and 670,000 different routes listed, we’re getting closer to this goal every day.

Before you hire a car with Direct Traveller, we would like you to ensure that you have attained the minimum age for driving, which has been set at 21 or 23 to drive minivans as well as 4×4s. Also, a full national driving licence for at least one year is required. We do provide you with the convenience of international licences being accepted by us. Check our other features also to benefit the most from our services as this is the right time to tour Northern Cyprus. Also, we offer regular packages to all the important sites of Northern Cyprus from major UK airports.

The primary airport in North Cyprus is Ercan which has been renovated on the latest in accordance to its up gradation as an International Airport. Numerous tourist operators with diverse holiday packages will meet their customers at Ercan and transport them to their hotel. Direct Traveller also operate flights via Larnaca in the Greek Republic of Cyprus, where customers are brought to a common place and transported to their hotels in North Cyprus.

This provision proves to be a hit as it avoids a 45 minute wait at Istanbul. It does mean that customers need to cross the border near Nicosia. Many of the tourists will prefer to eat out in the late hours of the day, and there are also many bars and restaurants. These places are also prov to be secure for women visitors as well as the young waiters, who will be eager in engaging in conversation with them.

North Cyprus is bursting with intriguing antiquity and a rich cultural history. Far West is the most fertile region with citrus groves and olive trees in abundance. To the East, the finger of the Karpaz Peninsula points to Syria. The eastern coastal area is home to one of the most historic towns, Famagusta.

Though the official language is Turkish, due to the English occupation and Northern Cyprus being under their rule being a British colony, English is predominantly used. Hence, visitors will never have to bother about communication problems and can enjoy being there at the places besides having a sight of beautiful locales

Direct Traveller offers holidays of special interest for people looking for a change. Feel a unique experience of holidaying from regular beach holidays. Enjoy playing golf in exotic locales of Northern Cyprus besides having a glimpse of its wild life. Northern Cyprus is also the haven for bird watching, especially in Five Finger Mountains and Kantara Castle. Being here, you can have the chance of viewing some rare species including native birds such as scarlet vulture, kestrel, rock partridge and turtle dove, migrant birds such as quail, cane, cuckoo, greater spotted cuckoo and mountain swift. Summer migrant birds such as squacco heron and grey heron add beauty to the scenic locales. The winter migrants include flamingo, various geese and lapwing.

North Cyprus is known for Go-Karting. Some go kart clubs will even let you loose on the track in your own time. Interested in horse riding? Why to anywhere else when we have three best riding clubs in Kyrenia and Famagusta. Experience a different feeling. Northern Cyprus is second to none in providing best hunting experiences. The season begins from October to February but only on Sundays. So, plan your holidays accordingly. For every activity you are interested in, we provide you maximum assistance and make you feel at home.

Travel search site Skyscanner has already reported an 283% rise on searches for cheap flights on Flyglobespan routes and expects to see traffic increase further as news of the airline’s collapse spreads and affected travellers scramble to find replacement flights.

Flyglobespan went into administration last night (16th December 2009), cancelling all flights.

“It’s terrible news for the 3,400 stranded passengers, for the 90,000 people who have paid for flights with the airline and for Flyglobespan employees” said Barry Smith, Skyscanner co-founder and Business Director.

“It’s been a disastrous week for the airline industry what with the BA Xmas strike announcement, which saw a peak in searches for flights to New York and now this. Skyscanner is assisting affected passengers by helping them to find replacement flights.”

“Searches on Flyglobespan routes have already gone through the roof and will continue to rise over the next few days. We saw a 269% rise on user traffic for XL Airline routes following its collapse in September 2008; the spike on Flyglobespan routes has already overtaken this.”

According to a statement on Flyglobespan’s website, customers who have booked a flight through Globespan Airways Limited operating as Flyglobespan are unlikely to be covered by the ATOL scheme.

Customers who have paid by credit card or Visa debit card should contact their card issuer in the first instance to determine whether they can claim a refund.

Skyscanner has set up a dedicated help page offering links to alternative flights on all Flyglobespan routes.

About Skyscanner:
Skyscanner is a leading travel search site based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Skyscanner provides instant online comparison on flight prices, including flights to London for over 670,000 routes on over 600 airlines, as well as car hire, hotel and holiday price comparison. With Skyscanner, users can browse without having to enter specific dates or even destinations, and Skyscanner is available in 20 different languages including French, German and Spanish.

Direct Traveller offers you maximum convenience for clients by allowing free dinner upgrades, free room upgrades, prices discounts, FREE car hire and FREE sea view offers. These savings are applicable for any package holiday during this season with direct flights to Larnaca or with flights via Turkey to Ercan airport. Other special offers are available from 12 UK airports throughout the Winter season. If you are willing to explore other options, we do have many more dates and differenct packages on a regular basis.

Direct Traveller is offering Wintersun Holidays at competitive rates this season as part of its various packages in offering cheap holidays. Each 3 star North Cyprus starts from £235. The variations in prices depends according to the availability of the flights. As direct flight services are offered, passengers need not bear the burden of changing aircrafts. Services to major places of Northern Cyprus/ like Ercan, Larnaca and Paphos could be availed from all the 11 major UK airports. You will be offered complete protection during your entire stay as we are also voluntary members of ABTA. The features of the hotel package include hotel on Bed

Walking away with the coveted prize for Best Use of search engine optimisation, Europe’s largest independent digital marketing agency was recognised for an international campaign that saw Kuoni enjoy a 100% increase in number one search rankings while achieving outstanding ROI. Praising the strategy for delivering a 104% increase in total unique search visitors within a year, a panel of experts singled out the project as an example of industry best practice.

“This was a fantastic demonstration of when SEO and user experience work hand-in-hand to create a powerful new proposition, especially with Kuoni’s new i-Travel proposition. The agency met all the client’s objectives and produced premium results with a clear return-of-investment,” said a panel spokesman.

Beating stiff competition from ambergreen, iCrossing, Latitude and Greenlight, bigmouthmedia’s campaign was selected for its implementation of constantly evolving SEO strategies including the use of social media releases and the exploitation of synergies between Kuoni’s PPC strategy and its search marketing activities.

“Our campaign was aimed at increasing search engine visibility, traffic and revenues, and I’m delighted that its success on all fronts has been rewarded with such a prestigious honour. Our internal staff have worked closely with bigmouthmedia throughout to deliver a particularly complex strategy, and this award is a richly deserved accolade for all involved,” said Joanna Edmunds, Kuoni’s Commercial Director.

Matt Rooke, eBusiness Director at Kuoni, added: “The statistics speak for themselves.  Results like the 69% increase in organic search engine traffic we delivered over a single year have helped us achieve outstanding ROI on this campaign, while our use of innovative link building activities to increase rankings for targeted keyphrases and video listings has seen us earn first page rankings in Google for over 90% of our targeted keywords”

The Travolution prize rounds off a successful week for bigmouthmedia on the awards circuit. On Tuesday September 29th, the agency learned that it has also been nominated for Agency of the Year at the 2009 Marketing Industry Network Awards.

“I’m delighted to see our campaign recognised in this way. It’s a tribute to the very talented team that worked side-by-side with Kuoni on a constantly evolving campaign that used the very latest search technologies to great effect,” said Anneli Ritari, Senior Travel Strategist at bigmouthmedia.

About bigmouthmedia
Founded in 1997, bigmouthmedia is Europe’s largest independent digital marketing agency. With a team of over 200 staff located across 13 offices in 10 countries on 3 continents, the company maximises exposure for major brands online through a variety of fully integrated digital marketing channels: Search engine optimisation, PPC, Online Media Planning, affiliate marketing, Social Networking, Brand Monitoring, Online PR and Web Analytics. Bigmouthmedia also provides up to date daily digital marketing news to ensure clients are fully informed and aware of all industry developments.

For further media information please contact
Iain Bruce
Media Strategist
bigmouthmedia
51 Timberbush
Edinburgh
EH6 6QH
(44) 131 555 4848
twitter.com/bigmouthmedia