Cottage holidays set to boom in 2008

No departure taxes, no security checks, no extra charge for your luggage or for sitting together - and above all a family summer holiday with change from £1,000. As the credit crunch tightens purse-strings across the country, one sector looking forward to a great year is the holiday cottage market.

Jon Cockerill runs Cottages.co.uk which features over 150 cottage rental agencies, and says he has never known such optimism in the industry. "People are printing fewer brochures as customers become more willing to book online", he says "so costs are falling. Meanwhile the package holiday operators are picking up all the worst habits of the budget airlines and charging extra for everything. The fact that you just pay one price for your cottage looks ever more attractive when belts are tightening".

Jon has a couple of good tips for anyone trading down to a UK cottage this year. "Summer holiday late discounts are unheard of, so book early if you want to be near the beach", he counsels, "and book early also if you are looking at the current hot sectors which are Log Cabins and places with Hot Tubs. Demand for both of these has been soaring, and there is limited supply".

The site Cottages.co.uk features over 150 independent holiday cottage agencies across the UK, enabling people to find the local specialists for any area. Established in 2004, it assists over half a million unique visitors per year.