Travelers and adventurers headed to Thailand during 10-15 April will have the unique of the Buddhist New Year festival of Songkran Festival to look forward to.

Taking place in Thailand’s glittering and vibrant capital city Bangkok, the Songkran Festival is made up of various cultural exhibitions and performances in key areas around the city. However, perhaps the main attraction takes place along the tourist haven that is Khao San Road.

This long stretch of a street turns into a water fight battleground as hundreds if not thousands of New Year revelers give each other a good soaking with whatever water-based weaponry that they can find. Water balloons, super soakers or just simple buckets, it’s all fair game during Songkran!

There are ever fully tanked up water trucks that prowl up and down the street ready to add more aquatic mayhem into the mix. Everyone joins in with the fun whether local or tourist, it’s all fun and games.

So if you happen to be in the city and would prefer the clothes that you are wearing to remain dry, then it’s probably best that you veer away from Khao San Road, as there’s no prisoners taken during this festival!

Songkran also offers the unique opportunity to view special cultural performances at the royal temples like Wat Phra Kaeo, Wat Arun and Wat Pho. There’s also delicious free sampling session to enjoy the various delights of Thai cuisine.

Buddhist New Year is also celebrated throughout the rest of the country, meaning that visitors can get a taste for the festivities no matter where they are.

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The UK is about to launch its biggest international promotional campaign ever next week, with the unveiling of a New York subway train decked out in the colours of the Union Jack.

The New York stunt is merely the start of a huge campaign encompassing nine countries and aiming to bring in an additional 4.6 million extra visitors over the next four years. Adverts will appear in 14 key cities, including Los Angeles, Beijing, Berlin, New Delhi, Mumbai, New York, Shanghai and Paris.

International visitor figures for the UK are already on the rise, with 30.6 million tourists arriving into the country in 2011, which was three per cent up on visitor figures for 2010. Those visitors also spent more money in 2011 than in previous years, with a record spending figure of £17.8 billion – five per cent higher than the previous year. Business travel into the UK has also increased recently, with 2011 arrivals up sis per cent on the previous year.

“We are taking the fight for the tourist pound right to our competitors’ doorsteps, with a sales assault on the 14 biggest and most lucrative tourism markets around the world,” said Jeremy Hunt, the secretary of state for culture, Olympics, media and sport.

“Right across the world, there will be no escape from the message that Britain is great,” added Mr Hunt.

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With the ski season in full swing and snow dusting the world’s mountain ranges, there’s an incredible array of impressive snow-capped vistas to be seen. Science and travel expert National Geographic keeps a close eye on the top ski resorts and lodges each year and has compiled its top ten list for snow lovers to marvel over.

Banff, Canada

Canada’s oldest national park, Banff is a picturesque delight that delivers the opportunity for both fast-paced skiing fun and perfectly pristine tranquillity too. The park itself attracts over 4 million visitors annually making it Alberta’s most visited tourist attraction.

Whistler

Perhaps Canada’s most well known resort, Whistler welcomes its winter warriors with open arms as it lets them blaze a trail down its vast and incredibly well-groomed pistes. With miles of varied runs which will test the most experienced skier along with the relative beginner, Whistler really can offer something fun and challenging for everyone.

Blackcomb

Standing proud right next to Whistler, Blackcomb Mountain offers an equally appealing set of runs that will take skiers or any level and put them through their paces. Not only is Blackcomb stunning to look on, it also benefits from a surfeit of superb accommodation and dining options down at its base.

There’s never been a better time to visit Whistler/Blackcomb as the two peaks are linked by the technological wonder that is the Peak-2-Peak gondola.

Park City, Utah

A mere 34 miles east of Utah’s Salt Lake City lies Park City, the state’s best skiing resort. Drawing its history from the great mining operations that once criss-crossed that whole region, aerial trams were converted to chairlifts and Park City turned into a ski holiday sensation. Park City even played host to the 2002 Winter Olympics, securing it as one of the USA’s top resorts.

Zermatt, Switzerland

Zermatt has managed to secure itself as the premier skiing spot in Switzerland. No easy task in a country that is mostly mountainous and has evolved the creation of skiing resorts to almost an art form!

Chamonix, Mont Blanc

France’s skiing history is long and distinguished thanks to its continual investment in the concentration of outstanding resorts dotted along the country’s alpine region. Chamonix is among the best of them, with a great capacity for other winter sports besides skiing and snowboarding such as mountain climbing, ice climbing and mountain paragliding.

Kitzbuhel, Austria

Dubbed “The Pearl of the Alps, Austria’s Kitzbuhel is home to over 100 years of skiing history. As such it has grown to become an internationally renowned ski resort that offers visitors literally hundreds of miles of pristine Alpine and cross-country skiing.

Mont Tremblant, Quebec

Situated just an hour’s drive outside of Montreal, Mont Tremblant is one of Canada’s smaller but just as popular ski resorts. With 94 runs spread across four different slopes, there’ll be no shortage of exploration to cram into a couple of weeks skiing.

Cortina, Italy

Nestled into the wondrous vista of the Italian Dolomites, Cortina is as pretty as a postcard with some serious ski run action to match. With its old world charm, the town itself is a delight to explore and it has been the host of several Winter Olympics.

The slopes were also the site of the filming of the classic ski sequence in the 1981 James Bond film For Your Eyes Only where Roger Moore was chased downhill by the black-clad motorcycle machine-gunners!

Aspen, Colorado

A resort known for its sophistication, Aspen in Colorado has a wide variety of challenging slopes and an equally impressive array of apres-ski options to keep you entertained and relaxed after a hard day conquering the mountain!

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