It’s official! Booking a holiday is good for you

It’s considered the gloomiest month of the year but bmibaby has today (17^th January) teamed up with leading psychologist, Professor Geoffrey Beattie, to bring a ray of sunshine to those of us suffering from the January blues with the news that simply booking a holiday can make us feel happier.

In other words, the very act of planning a break from our usual daily routines can boost happiness levels.  With bmibaby offering massive discounts on flights and holidays to numerous destinations across Europe from Belfast City Airport, it has never been easier to book a break in 2012 and to cheer yourself up!

In order to help get the people of Northern Ireland thinking about holidays, bmibaby is bringing the beach to Belfast on Saturday 21 January at Victoria Square and offering people the chance to win flights.

Geoffrey Beattie, Professor of Psychology in the School of Psychological Sciences at the University of Manchester and resident Big Brother psychologist, explains:

“Recent research has shown that those people with a holiday planned reported higher levels of happiness than those who had not planned a holiday.  This change in mood state seems to be associated with the anticipation of the pleasure from the holiday.  An increase in mood like this can also help you work more effectively and more creatively in the days leading up to the holiday.

“It is also more beneficial for psychological well-being to take two or more shorter holidays throughout the year rather than one long holiday.  It has been found that people who go on shorter holidays (two to six days each) reported more positive mood throughout the year rather than those who went on longer or shorter holidays.”

Julian Carr, managing director, bmibaby, said:

“We know January isn’t much fun and at bmibaby we want to ‘Brighten up Your January’ which is why we are offering such great deals on flights to Europe.  With a wide range of destinations now accessible directly from Belfast City Airport, there really is something for everyone whether you’re after a 48 hour city break in Amsterdam or a family beach holiday in Majorca.”

bmibaby offers direct flights to Amsterdam and Geneva, and the low cost airline is launching six new sunshine routes in 2012 with flights to Mahon, Malaga, Alicante, Palma, Faro and Ibiza, making it easy to book a holiday.

Visit the bmibaby pop-up beach at Victoria Square on Saturday 21 January from 11am- 2pm for your chance to experience a taste of summer and win free flights!