Students are giving up taking 12 months off before university and instead opting for the 'three-month gap year'.
Adventure tour operators report that this year's school-leavers are scrapping gap-year plans so they can start university before increased tuition fees are introduced in 2006. Instead, they are looking for ways to cram as many adventures as possible into their summer holidays.
'The amount of people taking gap years is down,' said Jocelyn Bates, of Trekforce. 'But shorter trips are extremely popular. This year we introduced a four-week trip, which left for Borneo on Friday, for those looking for similar experiences in a shorter time.'
Fees for students starting courses at English universities in 2005 will be no more than £1,200 for each of the three years, but those waiting until next year face charges of up to £3,000. Those who receive an offer of a deferred place for 2006 by 1 August this year will be exempt from the new fees, but others, including those waiting for results before applying, will have to pay.
'We specialise in long expeditions running January to May, the traditional slot for a gap-year trip,' said Lucy King, of Quest Overseas. 'This year has seen a complete reversal - we've had much more interest in our four- to eight-week summer expeditions. It is like an extended summer holiday, but allows you to do something worthwhile like building a school or health centre.'
Kids with a concierge
For the hotel with everything comes a new gimmick: the 'teen concierge'. Claudia Manser's bosses claim she will be London's first when she starts tomorrow at the Four Seasons in Park Lane.
Teenage guests, they argue, do not want to traipse around with their parents and are unlikely to rate advice given to them by a middle-aged concierge in livery. Instead, 16-year-old Claudia, right, who has just taken her GCSEs, will give them advice on the capital's latest fashionable hang-outs.
To back up her personal knowledge, the suits at the hotel group have set up a 'junior advisory panel' to offer suggestions on the coolest restaurants and shops. Young guests at the hotel are also given teen magazines in their rooms, along with PlayStations and scaled-down bathrobes.
Behind the Four Seasons' search for youth appeal lies hard economics. Its analysts say family travel is growing fast, rising 25 per cent in London in the last four years.
'It's more important than ever that we meet the needs of our younger guests,' said the general manager, John Strauss.
Wash'n'tan
A new washing powder has been launched which, its maker claims, can prevent sunburn and skin cancer. Most clothes stop UVB radiation from the sun, but UVA rays can pass through fabric to the skin. Loose-woven fabrics in lighter colours generally offer less protection, and getting them wet reduces it further.
The manufacturer of Glo White, available in supermarkets, says it can increase the ultraviolet protection factor of a cotton T-shirt from between three and six to 20 after 10 washes.
However, Jo Viner Smith, of Cancer Research UK, said basic types of protection, such as finding shade in the midday sun, were more important. See www.sunsmart.org.uk.
