Venere.com Reveals top 20 fun Christmas Facts Around the World!

ROME, December 8, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas at Venere.com (http://www.venere.com), the European online accommodation specialist. Take a peek at our list of fun facts about how the most important holiday of the year is celebrated around the world, or simply click here to view it on our Infographics page ( http://www.venere.com/blog/infographics/christmas-in-the-world-2010/).

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    Did you know that?
    XMAS
    In Greek, X means Christ; that is where the word "Xmas" comes from!
    Christmas World Records

The world's largest Christmas present was the Statue of Liberty. The French gave it to the US in 1886. It is 46.5 meters high and weighs 225 tons!

"Green" Christmas

It can take up to 15 years to grow an average-sized tree of 6 to 7 feet, sometimes as little as 4 years, but the average growing time is 7!

Christmas Songs

Bing Crosby 's 'White Christmas' was released in 1942 and is considered to be the best-selling Christmas song of all time!

    Christmas Statistics

    - 1 in 10 - The number of the presents received that will be broken by
      the New Year

    - 7 in 10 - The number of dogs that get Christmas gifts from their
      owners

    - 33' - The average time spent per person on last-minute purchases

    - 25 - The number of minutes spent in queues when Christmas shopping

    - 832 - The number of homes Santa visits every second to deliver all
      his presents

    - 5340 - Average number of times Visa Cards are used every minute
      during Christmas

2010 Average Budget for Christmas Presents

USA: 520 EUR - UK: 474 EUR - GERMANY: 270 EUR - ITALY: 325 EUR - FRANCE: 366 EUR - SPAIN: 383 EUR - NETHERLANDS: 206 EUR

    Traditional Christmas Sweets

    - FRANCE: Buche de Noel (a Genoise or other sponge cake, baked
      in a large Swiss roll pan)

    - USA: Pumpkin Cake (with cinnamon and ginger, frosted with
      cream cheese frosting)

    - SPAIN: Nougat (made with sugar or honey, roasted nuts)

    - HUNGARY: Beigli (roll of sweet yeast bread with a dense,
      rich, bittersweet filling)

    - ITALY: Panettone (is a type of sweet bread loaf originally
      from Milan)

    - SWEDEN: Pepparkakor (heart-star and goat-shaped gingerbread
      biscuit)

    - UK: Christmas Pudding (steamed pudding, with dried fruit and
      nuts, usually made with suet)

    - PORTUGAL: Pain Perdu (French toast made with bread and eggs,
      milk, sugar and cinnamon)

    - GERMANY: Lebkuchen (large cookies made of honey)

About Venere.com

Created in Italy in 1995, Venere.com is the European specialist for online reservation of hotels and other types of accommodation and one of the leaders on the global market. Since September 2008 Venere.com is an Expedia Inc. company (NASDAQ: EXPE), the world's largest travel marketplace.

For press information:

Micaela Zanarini - PR&Communications Manager Paris - [email protected] - +39-06-361-921

SOURCE Venere.com