If you’re looking for some inspiration for where to go in 2010, it may be useful to see where most people went in 2009. Helpfully, the Times Online has released a list of the top 36 travel ideas of last year. The following are a few highlights from the list, and some of them may surprise you:

• New Year in Hong Kong
• Caribbean cricket
• Snowbombing festival in the Alps
• Easter fireworks in Greece
• The White Nights Arts festival in St Petersburg
• Mardi Gras in Salvador, northeast Brazil
• The Fête de la Musique in Paris

While temperatures in the UK are freezing and the weather is so very poor, a large number of people are looking to get away for a while to enjoy some winter sun. It’s a lovely feeling to experience a sunny climate when it’s the middle of winter back home; it can recharge your batteries after the Christmas period or even a couple of months of hard work.

Hawaii has recently been named by Expedia.co.uk as the sunny place UK holidaymakers would like to escape to. Temperatures reached 29°c during October and November, and these were amongst the coldest months in the UK last year. It may be a long way to go, but the beach, tropical weather and ‘aloha’ spirit are more than enough incentive to jet out there for a week or so. Other popular destinations include the Algarve, Mauritius and Andorra.

This coming weekend is the Thanksgiving holiday for Americans with an estimated 38.4 million people expected to travel 50 miles or more away from home. This is an increase of 1.4 percent over last year, according to the AAA.

Most of this increase is expected to come from New England, with an 8.8 percent increase over last year. Most of these New England travellers are expected to travel by car.

Thanksgiving travel had fallen 25 percent in 2008 from 2007 as the recession started to take hold in the wake of the housing and financial crisis. Many Americans now feel the worst is behind them and have started to travel again.

Maybe we will see this increased confidence converted into a boost for the holiday travel industry in 2010.

The worldwide travel industry may be in a decline at the moment as it continues to feel the effects of the recession however this has not stopped Americans from enjoying their traditional holiday.

The number of American citizens travelling away from home to celebrate Thanksgiving with their family and friends is up from 2008 according to a research report from the AAA organisation.

Despite this show of defiance from the American public, with 33.2 million travelling by car this year, air travel is still continuing its decade-long decline with just 2.3 million travelling by air (6.7 percent decrease from last year).

The general overall increase reflects improved consumer confidence compared to last year, with Americans beginning to travel again.

The budget airline easyJet has announced that more than one in every five passengers were now travelling with them for business purposes.

Many flight carriers and travel companies are feeling the effects of the recession as travel budgets are put under pressure. However, easyJet have found they have benefited from the trade down from traditional carriers to budget airlines.

Andy Harrison the chief executive of easyJet said: “We have definitely grown our share in the business market.”

The company did warn though, it expects a tough winter ahead as rising unemployment hits the demand for travel. The travel industry is bracing for more price cuts in flights and lower profit margins. This news is certainly good for those looking to get away and find a great bargain.

A new survey has revealed that the tourism industry faces another difficult year as holiday-makers remain cautious about spending their money on holidays abroad. This research shows that more than 40 percent of consumers worldwide are planning to travel even less in 2010. This is despite a recent economic boost and more of a positive outlook towards a worldwide recovery.

The industry survey, published by the Boston Consulting Group, showed that every third consumer wishes to spend less on accommodation in 2010. This was especially true with the Italians and French. Consumers in Germany and Japan aim to cut their overall travel costs.

Travel companies are trying to find new ways to cope with this drop in demand and some tour operators like Thomas Cook have made travel bookings more flexible along with lower prices and special offers.

The finance department of the supermarket giant Sainsburys is sending out a warming to holidaymakers planning on going away this winter by reminding them about the need for adequate travel insurance.

They have estimated that over a third of people went away without insurance to cover the entire trip. This piece of research found that most people didn’t take out insurance because they felt they didn’t need it, or couldn’t afford it.

I, for one, have needed to make use of my insurance in the past and can vouch it certainly is worth the cash to be covered. With the great deals on cheap annual insurance these days, there really is no excuse not to have it.

This weekend I got lots of emails about the latest flight sales from BA and partners about its latest deals on discounted travel. If you are planning on going away between now and March 2010 then be sure to take a look at the many offers on www.britishairways.com.

This may be an ideal opportunity to get away somewhere like New York to do your Christmas shopping. There are many deals on the BA site to places such as Amsterdam and Dubai. All classes of flights are on sale until 17th November, so take advantage of these excellent flight prices by getting there before everybody else.