TRAVEL NEWS

LATEST TRAVEL ADVICE, OFFERS AND NEWS

TRY AN ITALIAN JOB

ITALY specialist Citalia has expanded its 2018 programme to include new areas of Piedmont, Emilia-Romagna, Sicily and the Aeolian Islands.

Also making a debut are boating holidays in the Venetian lagoon, walking in South Tyrol and at Lake Garda, cycling in Umbria and stays in a trullo in Puglia.

Customers can also build extras into packages including tickets for the Venice Carnival with period costume hire, seats at the Verona Opera and Siena Palio, and bookings for gastronomic tours and tastings (citalia.com).

CRUISE LINE REVEALS NEW NAME

THOMSON Cruises made waves in the cruise industry when it announced it was changing its name to Marella Cruises.

The rebrand will see the UK’s third-largest cruise line operating a fleet of six ships, including Marella Explorer, pictured, which will arrive next year.

Marella, which is Celtic for “shining sea”, was chosen by the company to “reflect its spirit of exploration and discovery across the seas”.

And that sense of adventure will see the line offering new itineraries across south-east Asia in its winter 2018 programme.

Marella Discovery will sail out of Bangkok in Thailand and Langkawi in Malaysia to exotic destinations such as Singapore, Vietnam and Cambodia.

The line will have flights from 22 UK airports and offer a Cruise & Stay programme at more than 140 hotels across 10 destinations worldwide.

TOURISM BOOMING IN BRITAIN

THE UK’s official tourist board expects tourism to reach record levels this year.

VisitBritain predicted that almost 40million people from overseas will have visited by the end of 2017 as currency exchange rates make the country more attractive.

This will see annual spending increase 14% to £25.7billion.