Which? Holiday celebrates 35 years as the travellers' champion

9th February 2009

This month Which? Holiday celebrates 35 years of providing consumers with independent and expert travel advice.

Launched in February 1974, during the worst recession the UK had seen since the Second World War, the first issue contained "beat-the-gloom" tips for people wanting to take holidays, despite the economic situations. To overcome the petrol shortages, suggestions included travelling by train, holidays in the UK, and walking holidays.

The first issue of Which? Holiday also featured a report on British holidays, which found that the majority of members preferred holidays in the UK to holidays abroad. Members voted Scotland as the favourite overall holiday destination in the UK, while Margate was the most enjoyable seaside resort.

As well as investigating services, testing products and providing honest destination guides, Which? Holiday has been involved in a number of important changes in the travel industry over the past 35 years, such as:

> Calling for an urgent review of evacuation procedures and design of roll-on-roll-off ferries following the Herald of Free Enterprise disaster in 1987, which led the UK government to support a higher standard of safety in an agreement between other European countries.

> One of Which? Holiday's longest running campaigns has been on fire safety at hotels abroad. In 1979, the magazine found 171 hotels in 13 counties were padlocking fire exits. By 2000, just five out of 60 hotels failed the Which? Holiday tests.

> In September 2007, Which? Holiday criticised Monarch Airlines, saying that it discriminated against passengers with certain mental heath issues. As a result of this, Monarch updated its policy, and now promises to individually assess whether passengers are fit for travel.

> In 2008, Which? took part in the consultation that led to the new Timeshare Directive on timeshare and holiday clubs, and most of the recommendations made were put in the legislation to give consumers more rights.

Lorna Cowan, editor of Which? Holiday says:

"When Which? Holiday was launched in 1974, the UK was going through some very tricky times, but despite having a shortage of money, people still hoped to enjoy a break away. Fast forward 35 years and we find ourselves once again in a recession, with money in short supply, but for many consumers holidays are as important as ever.

"Holidays can be a big investment, and at times like these, consumers need to know that when they spend their hard-earned cash on a break that they are going to get the very best holiday they can, without being ripped off or put at risk. Which? Holiday can be trusted to be your passport to trouble-free travel."

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