<p>Experts say mini-vacations, brief holidays of four days or less, offer today’s traveller a restorative pause without the pressure or expense of a long journey. <br /><br />“The mini-vacation is a fantastic way of changing the scene without breaking the bank,” said Amelie Hurst of travel website TripAdvisor. <br />“The trip you spend 12 months planning and pouring all your budget into has to live up to a dream,” she said. “With a mini-vacation travellers can find themselves more ready to go with the flow.” <br /><br />In a recent Trip Advisor poll of almost 1,700 Americans, 22 per cent said they opted to take shorter vacations of two-to-four days due to finances and six per cent said it was due to vacation time. <br /><br />Peter Yesawich, CEO of Ypartnership, which tracks travel trends, said the weekend getaway has reigned as the most popular American leisure trip for over a decade. <br />Last year, with the economy still stuck in the doldrums, it accounted for almost half of all US vacations. Yesawich said: “It doesn’t matter how low the Dow goes, how high the unemployment, the majority Americans are still taking vacations.” <br />Prior to 1996 there was a sanctity to Saturday, but it has disappeared in the 24/7 environment, he said. <br />Reuters</p>
<p>Experts say mini-vacations, brief holidays of four days or less, offer today’s traveller a restorative pause without the pressure or expense of a long journey. <br /><br />“The mini-vacation is a fantastic way of changing the scene without breaking the bank,” said Amelie Hurst of travel website TripAdvisor. <br />“The trip you spend 12 months planning and pouring all your budget into has to live up to a dream,” she said. “With a mini-vacation travellers can find themselves more ready to go with the flow.” <br /><br />In a recent Trip Advisor poll of almost 1,700 Americans, 22 per cent said they opted to take shorter vacations of two-to-four days due to finances and six per cent said it was due to vacation time. <br /><br />Peter Yesawich, CEO of Ypartnership, which tracks travel trends, said the weekend getaway has reigned as the most popular American leisure trip for over a decade. <br />Last year, with the economy still stuck in the doldrums, it accounted for almost half of all US vacations. Yesawich said: “It doesn’t matter how low the Dow goes, how high the unemployment, the majority Americans are still taking vacations.” <br />Prior to 1996 there was a sanctity to Saturday, but it has disappeared in the 24/7 environment, he said. <br />Reuters</p>
