With the exception of your friends and family it always seems to be the same type of people you speak to about summer holidays. With me it always seems to be taxi drivers or barbers. After the invariable discussions of how bad the weather is and asking how busy they have been on that particular day the normal silence begins as your mind drifts off on to other things. However, I often find the next step in conversation often leads to one party enquiring “Are you going away anywhere nice in the summer this year?”. By the time this question has been asked you have now encompassed the entire range of British small talk obsessions – the weather, complaining about work and summer holiday’s. At least the last topic is fun!

It is possible to stereotype this conversation further. How often for example have you had the following conversation;

You : “Miserable weather today”

Service Sector Employee : “Yes very depressing, it is supposed to be like this all week”

You : “So are you going anywhere nice on your holiday’s this year?”

Service Sector Employee : “I think I’m just going to book something last minute”

It is certainly true that the British love a last minute bargain. No planning, no fuss and inexpensive. What could be better? Just jump on an Easy Jet (http://www.easyjet.com ) and head off to Costa Del Sunny. To be honest there is very little harm in this as there are certainly many good deals to be had, even if it does mean you are adopting the lucky dip approach to holidaymaking.

However, what is a mistake is the common misconception that the only way to get a real discount holiday is to wait until the last minute before you book. Indeed often now the opposite is true with consumers being rewarded for early bookings. The other advantage of this of course is it reduces the chances of ending up on Watchdog in early September complaining about the 40 minute walk to the beach and the builders who woke you up every morning at 6.30 am.

To be honest there is no real excuse not to be organised when it comes to booking your sunshine holiday these days. Websites such as Superbreak (http://www.superbreak.com ) offer fantastic ranges of beach and apartment breaks across the globe and booking anything from a three week hotel holiday to a quick short break couldn’t be simpler. The advantage you get is you know exactly what you are getting – at a competitive price.

To many the thought of going on a beach holiday for a short break would break with tradition, however growing numbers of savvy travellers are discovering the joys of being in work one minute and then basking on a sun kissed beach a couple of hours later. Traditionally, the British are very predictable when it comes to holidaymaking. Every year literally thousands of people take there usual two weeks off to find some sunshine in Spain, Greece or Florida. Beach holidays are seen as the main annual break where people can switch off for a fortnight, sit in the sun and unwind.

However, many forward thinking companies have started to challenge these traditions and open up UK consumers to the idea of beach breaks that can be enjoyed over a shorter period of time.

Perhaps one of the main reasons why such breaks are becoming more accessible are the discount airlines such as Aerlingus (http://www.aerlingus.com ) offering cheap return flights to popular sunshine resorts such as Ibiza, Gran Canaria and Cyprus. Combining these discount flights with the abundance of hotel and accommodation deals that are on offer means that beach breaks are becoming increasingly competitive.

Overall, taking 2-3 days to top up your tan is becoming easier to do for the UK traveller and the appeal of being on a beach in an exotic location a matter of hours after leaving your work is strong – just don’t always leave it to the last minute to book – you will have a lot more to talk about with your hairdresser as a result!