The internet provides a wealth of information on this subject, allowing you to access even the most unusual of specialist travel insurance policies. The best rates are often found online and by using a handy price comparison website you can search for the cheapest deals very easily.

Among the most common policies available is annual travel insurance, which is sometimes referred to as multi-trip insurance. This insures policy holders for the period of one year, covering them for all of the trips they take during this one year period, and at a discounted rate.

If you do not require insurance for more than one foreign trip, then the cheapest and most popular insurance option is a one-trip policy. These policies can be made as comprehensive as you like, with the option to add extras to your policy as well as increasing or decreasing your levels of health cover.

Travellers looking to book a longer vacation will find that single trip insurance typically does not cover any trip that is longer than a couple of months. For holidays of 3 months or more, and up to about a year and a half, you will need to obtain some long-term travel insurance cover. This works in exactly the same way as single trip insurance does.

Cruise travel insurance is another new product on the insurance market. As cruises tend to be more liable to cancellation due to adverse weather conditions in popular cruise tour areas, specialist cruise insurance takes this into account, and does not charge you extra for holiday cancellation cover as some standard travel insurance policies do.

Booking a trip for a group of friends, family, or for a group of work colleagues for a business trip can be made a lot easier by taking out a group insurance policy. Anyone named on your group policy will be covered whether they travel with others in the group or not, and by insuring as a group, costs are lowered as each individual traveller does not have to seek out separate cover.

Businesses around the globe are also now taking full advantage of business trip insurance. These policies have been specially designed for businesses and their employees who need to travel for work purposes. This form of insurance can be combined with annual travel insurance if travel is frequent enough, saving your business even more valuable cash.

Popular holiday destinations for many Europeans still included Spain and the islands of Majorca and Menorca.

But people have become more adventurous, and trips to Egypt, Jordan and other destinations not really thought of a decade a go are now very much in vogue.

The traditional two week holiday is fast becoming redundant too, with many families now taking two, three and sometimes even four shorter breaks a year, with some of those two or three day trips.

Traditional travel agents are certainly having to adapt to the new world of travel, for not only are they having to rise to the challenge of a different market place for the number of holidays and time taken from a decade ago, but unless they have a strong on-line presence they are in a declining market, as more and more people change from booking at a bricks and mortar store to creating their own holidays on the internet.

A good example of the changing tourist scene is the Menorca holidays market.

The Spanish island’s economy is pretty reliant on tourism, and in the seventies, eighties and nineties marketed itself successfully as a quiet destination, with two week package holidays typically taken between June and September the normal tourist season.

But now in an effort to stay as a major player in the European holidays game, the season has been extended from June back to April, and from mid September to early October.

In addition as not only is the typical holiday no longer two weeks but one, the island is also marketing itself as a holiday destination good for three and four day breaks.

Although the scenery and terrain may be enough in itself to keep holidaymakers busy for a fortnight, Menorca is rich in culture and history for those who take culture breaks for three or four days. Examples are the collection of ancient stone monoliths which bear tales of prehistoric times.

Daytime summer temperatures hover around the mid to high seventies farenheit on the island, and are mid sixties to mid seventies in the months Menorca is broadening her season for, tourists who might visit in April, May, September and October.

Menorca, like many holiday destinations, has adapted to a fast changing holiday mix, but will no doubt hope that there aren’t too many change of habits coming along in the future – but if there is they will respond quickly enough to esure the island’s place in the tourists plans.