That is no reason not to take a gap year because similar accidents can and do happen closer to home but gap years do generally involve extended travel to remoter parts of the globe and thereby lies the problem. According to the FCO, over 200,000 people in the UK, of all ages, are now taking gap years or sabbaticals abroad with India, Peru and Tanzania currently the most popular places for gap year placement.

The UK Government has also recently announced a £10 million scheme to offer 18 to 25 year old from less advantaged backgrounds the opportunity to undertake placements living and working in developing countries. This means that the trend to take a gap year is set to grow even more and one estimate puts the global market to be worth a staggering £11 billion pounds by 2011. So how do you reduce the potential risks involved? The FCO offers very useful advice on their website at www.fco.gov.uk/travel and they do keep up to date travel advice information on most, if not all countries. What is still surprising though is that 25% of all travellers go abroad without adequate travel insurance but why take this unnecessary risk? Although travel insurance will not prevent something happening to you, it can certainly help to reduce some of the stresses in the aftermath. Medical expenses including repatriation, loss of baggage, legal assistance, and curtailment are just some of the essential benefits that come with most policies and it is now possible to buy tailored policies from specialist providers to cover almost every combination of gap year.

What is the cheapest/fastest way to travel from Dusseldorf, Germany to London, UK?

North end of City

Several years ago, I spent a gap year in Spain. I found work as a reception assistant for an estate agent that rented flats to mainly Spanish tourists, but also to the occasional French, German or British couple who had ventured away from the Alicante area. The town was Gandia, in Valencia, famous for stunning beaches and a favourite destination for holidaymakers from Madrid, and which boasted a university offering degree programmes in tourism and hospitality. My language skills were however limited, which meant I was destined to return to the UK for the time being. However, I had tasted something of the contrast between hard work and hedonism that is an essential part of the tourism industry.

A career in the tourist industry has obvious appeal if you’re looking to work overseas, but there are other ways of entering the business. If you want to work abroad, a job as a tour operator, or as support staff in a restaurant or hotel could be sensible choices if your language skills are limited, but this also depends on your previous work experience and personal strengths (if you’re very outgoing, this can make up for limited language skills). If not, or if you’re looking to work in a country where English is the first language or you are bilingual, then your options increase significantly, from sales to executive level, but you’ll need to find out about visa requirements. You could also look for a travel recruitment company that specialises in your country or regions of interest.

Language skills are useful even if you don’t want to leave the UK, with demand for proficiency in languages as diverse as Cantonese and Finnish, in areas ranging from travel sales to customer service or administrative support. Knowledge of travel through personal experience is also an asset for an office-based role, as are good people skills, computer literacy and attention to detail when making complex travel bookings. One reward of working in the industry is that you may well be treated to familiarisation trips, especially if you’re selling prestigious holidays or cruises, as well as discounts on holidays and accommodation.

If you are planning on working for a UK travel agent, there are a number of diplomas and vocational qualifications in travel, such as the City and Guilds courses in travel and tourism and various CRS (Computer Reservation Systems) courses, which will help you with airline reservations, fares and ticketing, hotel reservations and car hire. The Guild of Travel Management (GTMC) offer specific skills for business travel. Business travel roles are often filled by people who have previous experience of travel customer service, since they will involve the challenging of fulfilling the demanding requirements of high paying, business clients.

Travel recruitment companies can help you find a role in the leisure industries, from travel consultants to airline staff and car hire representatives, and provide information on the sorts of qualifications you’ll need. They may also offer ways to try out new industries or roles on a temporary or contract basis: benefits of which can include up to 4 weeks’ paid holiday, referral incentives, and holiday and travel offers.

Perhaps if I’d planned it better, I could have ended up with a more lucrative year in the tourism industry. But in the end, perhaps I am better suited to being an arm-chair travel representative.

According to the latest report by the UK travel analysts, “In the past three four years people in UK have taken travelling as the basic requirement for them round the year. Earlier it was only once a year when people step out to have the holiday bash. Due to the sudden drop in air-fares and the mounting work pressure, people now await more eagerly for the outings.

Huge Mark, a Sales executive comments on the same, “I usually take on a holiday trip several times in a year in order to make an escape from the hefty work schedule”. With the fast growing travelling needs among the people, the concept of travel insurance policy has also made its foray hugely into the market. People now are not willing to take risks with their holiday plans as it is the only time during the year when one can relax without any impediments on the way. It has also been revealed that nearly 60% people in UK opt for travel insurance.

But taking a travel insurance policy is not enough; one must make a thorough study of all the policies available in the market to get the appropriate choice. It takes only few minutes to make a comparative study between the various offers available in the market. Inapt travel insurance cover may increase the problem instead of providing help whilst the trip. Cheap travel insurance cover is not that tough to find as people assume about it. Through a proper navigation online one can also get to know about the new policies and about their exact requirements.

Commenting on the same Rudy Jennson, a regular traveller added, “Initially I used to get cover on each of my single trips through out the year. Actually I wasn’t aware the provision of multi-trip policies which not only saves the money but also offers an apposite coverage for the regular travellers.

Sometimes the travel agents in the market also mislead the customers, as they earn more commission by selling in various individual policies. Naturally a travel will look for his/her benefit instead of taking care of your specific requirements. Usually, buying a policy costs to a person much more than the actual rates in most of the cases.

Following are the few noteworthy points which must be considered while taking any policy:-

1) You must be fully aware about the kinds of coverage offered within your travel insurance policy. Usually most of the travel insurance policies cover the change and cancellation of trips, emergency medical assistance, etc. But there are various situations when you require more than it, like coverage for loss, damage of important belongings, flight delays and others. So it is very important to get to know about all kinds of coverage and for that you also must specify all your exact requirements to the travel insurer.

2) Compare the shop for the best insurance cover. The best way to compare the policies in on internet.

3) Read the small prints properly.

4) Check out for the cover confines and also for any prohibition if there are any.

Check out for the websites like insurancebookers.co.uk, saga, insure and go and thus compare their vibrant policies.

The answer really depends on the type of holiday planned, the length of stay and whether you want to accept the risk of not being covered if something does go wrong. It is also worth remembering that UK travel insurance cover is generally included if you take out the more expensive Europe of Worldwide cover, though do check the small print rather than assuming that this is always the case. A Europe or Worldwide annual multi-trip travel insurance policy will be more expensive as an initial payment up front but will cover you for an unlimited number of trips abroad, and in the UK, throughout the year, provided the length of stay of each trip does not exceed the policy limit, normally around 31 days away per trip.

So is a UK travel insurance policy worth considering? Probably yes if only one or two short breaks a year are planned and it will be very inexpensive to purchase for the cover provided. This can be very useful should you subsequently cancel a trip, say for illness, as your holiday costs will be reimbursed subject to any excesses to pay. Your personal effects will probably be covered too which is an important point to consider as theft and loss is not just confined to holidays on the ‘Costas’ – these things happen at home too. What you will almost certainly not be covered for will be for medical emergencies and expenses as insurers argue that the NHS is available for such instances and will point out that travel insurance is not a substitute for private medical insurance. The lack of medical cover in UK only travel insurance policies is the main reason why insurers can offer these policies for the very low prices on offer.

On balance, travel insurance for UK holidays and short breaks is probably a good buy for those holidaymakers who tend to stay at home for their breaks away and there is an increasing number of people who are doing this. One final word of warning though is do check the small print as many, if not most, insurers do require you to have proof of booked accommodation for a minimum stay of normally 2 nights away for the policy to be in force so the Sunday ‘trip out’ is definitely outside this definition!

There are discounted travel savings for United Kingdom room rates that will save you as much as 70%, and place you in some of the best of cities that are located throughout the United Kingdom. They are offered by discounted travel agency sites that beckon you to save by any type of communication means possible.

These discounted travel sites will make doing business with them so easy, because each of the websites has the capability of letting you see their various discounted travel offers in the language and currency that is right for you. That makes taking advantage of discounted travel savings for United Kingdom travel really easy.

There are so many travel options available that are true discounted travel savings for United Kingdom travelers. These discounted travel agencies will allow you to view all of the cities in Europe, and those that are in Great Britain will certainly be the best of the best discounted travel savings for United Kingdom that you will ever find.

To truly appreciate the discounted travel savings for United Kingdom travel, you can take the opportunity to use the convenient travel guides that are posted for England, Scotland, Ireland and Europe. When you see the marvelous tips and reviews in these handy destination guides, you will certainly know that you are reaping excellent discounted travel savings for United Kingdom tours, lodging, and airfare.

There is even a UK Travel Guide, and a list of worldwide cities, that you can use to compare the discounted travel savings for United Kingdom bargains against those being offered in the rest of the world. This is something that is not normally available unless you have a great relationship with your travel agent.

Then you know you will be making the wise choice to book your travel with these discounted travel agencies, because they are not afraid of what the comparison results will show. They know they offer the lowest prices on air, train, lodging and dining attractions for Great Britain and they relish the opportunity to be challenged.

There are so many nice combinations you can use to enjoy discounted travel savings for United Kingdom visits. These discounted travel agencies urge you to book your airfare, hotel accommodations and rental car needs together to save marvelous amounts of money on things you truly need to travel to and throughout Great Britain.

These friendly travel agencies are nice enough to allow you to only combine what you need, and if you only need a flight and a hotel room or a hotel and a car, they are willing to work with you to meet your discounted price travel needs. They want you to keep coming back, so they can continue to offer you the best discounted travel savings for United Kingdom fun.

Whenever you need discounted travel savings for United Kingdom travel, simply remember that these friendly discounted travel agencies are waiting to serve you in your needs to travel to England, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The opportunities to visit Edinburgh Castle and The Highlands of Scotland are only a discounted phone call away.

Thousands of UK consumers are victims of web fraud every year after booking bogus flights or holidays online.

Earlier this year a gang of internet fraudsters was found guilty of conspiracy to defraud after swindling 6 million pounds from innocent holiday makers. The gang had taken-over five legitimate holiday firms in London during a three year period. They then traded under various names, including Ciao Travel and Orange Sun Ltd, and advertised cheap holidays that did not exist.

The scam was only discovered when a terrorist alert halted all flights from the UK. Significant numbers of passengers checked their flights and accommodation and became aware that no bookings had been made for them. The authorities initiated a full scale investigation soon after.

ABTA – the Travel Association advises UK consumers to take three simple steps to ensure they are not a victim of fraud when booking travel on the internet.

1 Check whether your travel company is an ABTA member on the ABTA website.

This association of travel agents and tour operators aims to ensure that holiday-makers receive choice, value and quality. All members adhere to a Code of Conduct, with breaches being reported and resolved. ABTA publishes a Code of Conduct specifically for online travel companies entitled ‘Standards on Websites and Online Trading’.

Look for your travel company’s ATOL logo and number. ATOL is a Government guaranteed financial protection scheme for UK tour operators. This protects over 28 million consumers every year. You can check if your travel company is included on the Civil Aviation Authority website.

2 Make sure you’ve got the right paperwork. When you have booked and paid for your flight or holiday online you should receive a confirmation document outlining the travel arrangements and the money you have paid.

When you’re just booking a flight, make sure you get either an ATOL Confirmation or the airline’s ticket or flight confirmation immediately.

Check that the payee names on the paperwork match with who you have paid and check your bank and credit card statements for names and amounts.

If you book additional travel services direct with a tour operator, make sure that you receive separate receipts detailing company names and amounts paid.

Keep all documentation relating to your holiday booking in case of future problems.

3 Find out if your travel arrangements are financially protected if your travel company goes out of business. Many travel arrangements provided by ABTA members are protected. If not, ABTA members can offer low-cost insurance policies to cover consumers.

UK travellers who book package holidays or flights through travel agents are automatically protected by two statutory schemes. The Package Travel, Package Holidays and Package Tour Regulations 1992 require the organisers of package holidays to protect your money and bring you home if necessary. If your package includes a flight then you will be protected under the ATOL scheme.

The Civil Aviation (Air Travel Organisers’ Licensing) Regulations 1995 require tour operators who sell flight-only deals to protect your money and get you home if necessary.

If you book your flight directly with the airline or book accommodation-only, there is no legal requirement for your travel company to protect your money.

In the event of your travel agent going out of business, you should contact the relevant holiday company, airline or hotel to check that your booking is in place. If so, your trip should be able to go ahead unaffected.

If you suspect any criminal activity involving a travel website, contact the police. If you have a concern regarding an ABTA member or ATOL holder contact the ABTA Consumer Affairs Department or the CAA’s ATOL Claims Department. Full contact details are available on their websites.

As with any goods or services paid for online, consumers should use their common sense and look out for anything suspicious.

All legitimate businesses will publish their full address, landline telephone number and email details. Do some research on the company if you have any concerns.

Does the offer seem too good to be true? If so, it probably is. Check the company policies on bookings, refunds and complaints.

When making a payment, use your credit card so that you can dispute the charge if you later discover the deal has been misrepresented. If you are spending more than 100 pounds and paying by credit card you should be covered by the Consumer Credit Act – which means if there is a problem you will be able to claim your money back. Check that you are entering your card details onto a secure site and keep your own security software up to date. The URL in your browser window should begin “https://” and a small padlock should appear at the bottom of your screen.

Beware of searching for cheap travel deals on internet auction sites – you will have little comeback if they turn out to be fraudulent. And look out for bogus holiday clubs – the alarm bells should start ringing if you receive a phone call telling you that you’ve won a free holiday.

Always remember that when you buy from a company online you have exactly the same consumer rights as when you shop on the high street in relation to faulty or badly described goods. Take a look at the government’s Consumer Direct website for comprehensive information on your rights and tips to avoid scams. There are some great travel deals out there, and just taking a little care will ensure that you get a true bargain. Happy travelling!

If you’re traveling in the UK, or a UK citizen traveling elsewhere, you have many options including full year travel insurance. While the occasional traveler such as a vacationer may not find full year travel insurance preferable to the one-trip options, business travelers or other frequent travelers may opt for full year travel insurance as the best time saving and money saving choice.
UK travel insurance options, in addition to full year UK travel insurance coverage, are numerous: one-trip or multiple-trip plans, extended stay, business travel plans, several designed especially for family travel, and even one that’s focused on the needs of backpacking travelers.
With just about every plan lost luggage coverage can be included or deleted a la carte, since travelers may find that this protection is included in their homeowners’ policy. Full year UK travel insurance, as well as one or multiple trip options, also includes medical coverage while participating in most sports, although you sometimes must choose this option for the coverage.
Instant quotes are available online. On one informative UK site your instant quote is given individually for your choice of single trip, annual (also known as multiple trips) or backpacker.
Let’s take a look at the full year UK travel insurance quote.
For this quote you are asked to register and then choose destinations. The destination choices for this full year UK travel insurance plan are for travel specific to the UK, travel within all of Europe, travel worldwide with the exception of the United States and the Caribbean, word travel that includes the U.S. and the Caribbean, or travel in Australia and/or New Zealand. We indicated that we are a couple – 45 and 43 years of age – with no children under 19 accompanying us, that we are traveling throughout all of Europe starting September 1st of 2005, and that we are going to participate in winter sports.
The quotes, converted from British pounds to U.S. dollars, ranged between $92 and $255, depending on the extent of coverage. At the low end of the full year UK travel insurance coverage we found lower ceilings on medical coverage. These quotes also excluded lost baggage coverage and some sports coverage. An accident during a round of golf, for example, was not included in this quote.
The highest premium full year UK travel insurance product, offered an amazingly high ceiling on medical coverage – over $17 million -included compensation for any loss of limbs, dental coverage, mountain search and rescue and repatriation for medical emergency.
Clearly, if you seek full year UK travel insurance, you’ll find many options and something that will fit your wallet.

http://www.tours-guide.com

The travel lodges in UK makes it possible for people to visit the United Kingdom and stay there during a vacation. The lodging industry in the UK is mature enough to cater to the ever-increasing rush of people from all over the world for various purposes like vacations, business, political and diplomatic missions. British lodges are in fact world famous for their visitor-friendly friendly aura, facilities, sense of hygiene and scores of other customer friendly features. It is only due to these beautiful lodges and hotels that the British hospitality sector has made a name at the world level. It enables people to spend a lovely time and understand the culture, tradition and ethos of UK. People has to book their lodge in advance in order to make a thrilling stay in various places of UK become a reality.

It is a fact that no longer people has to restrict themselves to visit a place in UK because of expensive rates of hotel rooms. It is absolutely true that people like to save their hard earned money. So, it is not possible to save the money for travellers without the availability of affordable travel lodges. A list of affordable t ravel lodges are thus released time to time by travel agencies and tour operators for the convenience of people. This has made it possible for people to overcome their monotonous life and get a relief from the same daily work schedules. Travellers can now easily travel to destinations in UK and rejuvenate themselves by being in United Kingdom.

Travelling means spending momentous time with family and friends. People love to spend quality time in beaches and other destinations of UK. This makes it possible for people to be free from tensions, worries and overcome depressions. Holiday packages to UK are made cheap with the introduction of the low rate family hotels. Moreover, discounts are provided to people in the off peak seasons. In case one wish to travel during the peak seasons, it is better that travellers avail rebates within one’s budget by putting up in the travel lodges.

Travel lodges comprise of chain of hotels as they provide all the modern facilities with quality accommodation. These hotels have large suits and are equipped with every facilities that make a comfortable stay possible. Many lodges in UK also have the flexibility to book a room 12 months in advance. So, travellerss do not need to wait for a travel lodge in UK. Travellers now simply has to go online and book for a lodge. Moreover, there are options and travellers can select the one that offer reasonable price rate. Moreover, there are various portals in the internet that deal exclusively with queries relating to travel.

Most of the travel lodges are independent cottages that offer an amazing experience to people to live independently. These offer well furnished rooms with every facility from dining, saloon, laundry, doctors, cabs and more kept at the service of visitors. These lodges are clean and their accommodations include spacious bed rooms with TVs fitted in them. So, with such comfortable staying options, one can fulfill one’s dreams and enjoy a fun filled vacation.

So, if one is planning to make a trip to UK, then the person should try the travel lodge Uk as it is guaranteed that the stay will become more enjoyable. Moreover, travellers can save a lot of their money as the price rate of lodges are cheap as compared to hotels.

After a stressful work, relaxation in life is very necessary to make the mind and soul free from burdens. The best way to relax and relieve oneself is to go to an exciting holiday tour at any beautiful place. While going on a vacation with family or on the business tour, selection of hotel plays a vital role, which can give a feel of home. Opting for a cheap hotel at any tourist place is the excellent way of spending an exciting holiday at a discounted manner. As a matter of fact, for most people, a holiday is a best excuse to forget the daily mundane work in office. Before planing for a holiday destination, one should follow some tips to make his tour a memorable and unforgettable one. One must confirm the reservation and availability of required rooms according to the budget. Importantly, the person should also check out the weather conditions and popular places to visit.

One can have wonderful experience to exotic vacations with pleasant and luxurious facilities provided by cheap hotels. The cheap or budgeted hotels are booked by people who want to experience a leisurely holiday with their families at a reasonable rate. Apart from the wonderful accommodation, these hotels offer excellent services and beautiful view, absolutely at a cheap rate. Therefore, it can be said that tourist finds excitement with amazing facilities at comparatively lower price. These hotels are basically designed to provide people with a luxurious holiday packed with better services similar to other luxurious hotels.

Therefore, the person needs to search out little more for getting ideal accommodation without spending large sum of money. The hotel plays an important part for making a trip memorable. A good and reasonable hotel tends to make your vacation more memorable. If a person wants to enjoy his or her vacations in a luxurious hotel at discounted rates then he or she needs to travel during off-season. As a matter of fact, in off-season, one can easily bargain with hotel owner to slash down the rate of room.

Going on the new tourist place and finding a best suited cheap hotel is not a tough task, nowadays. As a matter of fact, many Online booking services and agencies are available to help and guide you in availing or finding a convenient hotel. These Online agencies are directly linked with hotels to make their booking rates cheap and affordable. One can enjoy luxurious ambiance in a hotel without paying hefty amount of money for it. Not only this, Online mode provides the person to check out the cost in different hotels and then carry out a relevant comparison. This helps the users to get best suited hotel at his or her destination tourist place.

The Internet is considered as the best option for getting a good or budgeted hotel deal. As a matter of fact, finding a reliable website from the innumerable WebPages is not easy. While searching for the hotels from the Internet, one must search for the reliable website.

To conclude, the travel lodges are indeed fantastic way to make the holidays memorable. One must search for the hotels that make the users feel completely at home, while not at home. Just like the luxurious hotel, one can enjoy numerous sports or recreation activities including swimming, billiards, golf and many more.