TOUR OPERATOR Falcon Holidays is preparing itself for a deluge of bookings over the next few weeks from families planning ahead for their Summer 2006 holidays. And with many families are already making plans for next summer, Falcon have launched their new Summer Sun 2006 and Premier Hotels & Private Villas 2006 brochures.

Speaking at the launch, Falcon Holidays NI Director Christine Donnelly claimed that families are traditionally first off the mark when it comes to booking their summer holidays early. "Of all the bookings that we will make over the next few weeks, we would expect some 80 per cent of those to be from families," said Christine. "This is not surprising as we work extremely hard to cater for the needs of families in Northern Ireland. We listen to their feedback at a local level and respond in any way we can to make sure that their holiday is everything they expect. "Our new Summer Sun 2006 brochure features 23 designated Falcon Kids Clubs," she explained. "Kids Clubs are one of the main reasons why families choose to go on holiday with us every year with a whole range of activities supervised by a qualified team. We also have 12 Family Plus properties which are exclusive to Falcon and specifically designed with families in mind. "On top of all this, we now have five unique Holiday Villages, again exclusive to Falcon, each with four-star family friendly accommodation and excellent family facilities. "The Holiday Village is a new concept and is really a resort in itself with fantastic lagoon style pools, great restaurants, live shows and entertainment and activities for all the family," added Christine.

New to Falcon's 2006 Summer programme is the company's first summer package holiday direct from Belfast to Kefalonia, the largest of the Ionian Islands on the Greek coast. Also featured for the first time in Falcon's main summer brochure are the beautiful Italian resorts of Sorrento and Lake Garda, while holidaymakers can also choose to fly out of Dublin to a range of hotspots in Croatia, Egypt, Slovenia and North Italy.

In total, the brochure offers some 21 destinations as well as a choice of eight cruising options on the Island Star and Island Escape cruise ships. Early birds get the best deals every year and many of the seats are snapped up by early bookers. The main Summer Sun 2006 brochure features thousands of free child places, grandparent places and one-parent family offers up for grabs, not to mention Falcon's Early Bird Bonanza which offers customers booking before July 31 2005 the opportunity to save up to £100 per adult on certain dates and properties.

Falcon also continues to offer customers its unique two-way guarantee which assures holidaymakers of the lowest prices as well as added flexibility when booking before July 31 2005.

Premier Hotels & Private Villas Falcon's Premier Hotels & Private Villas 2006 brochure features a wide- range of carefully selected four and five-star premier hotels and private villas across a choice of destinations and transfers between the airport and most hotels or apartments are provided by private taxi or, in some cases, a minibus. New for 2006 are Dublin departures to Dubrovnik and Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt, not to mention pre-bookable 'Wellness Packages' offering a range of health and beauty treatments at select hotels.