Specialist holidays all the rage in 2012

Next year's vacationers will be seeking out unique experiences, according to a new trend report examining what we can expect from travel in 2012.ABTA, the UK's Travel Association, released its Travel Trends Report 2012 this week, predicting that specialist holidays -- a world away from the sun and sand of previous years -- will continue to grow in popularity, despite a new focus on value for money. Cruising, adventure, exploration, learning and activity holidays are all expected to boom, ABTA said, along with destinations which have a "strong and authentic sense of location."The report, developed in association with the British government, suggests that both luxury and budget breaks will be in high demand in 2012, with the mid-market feeling the biggest squeeze from reduced household budgets. Interestingly, baby boomers will be fuelling the market, suggesting that research predicting a boom in multigenerational (family group) travel released at the International Luxury Travel Market earlier this month may have been spot on.Despite the surge in specialism, ABTA said that travelers will be seeking out tried and tested destinations, afraid of wasting money on uncertain bets -- for the UK, this means destinations such as France, Greece, Italy, Spain and the USA will all prove popular next year.Other hot destinations listed by the agency include Jordan, Colombia, Cape Verde and Poland/Ukraine, which will host the Euro 2012 tournament in June.