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While a new year often brings the promise of fresh and exciting travel destinations and itineraries, there’s always somebody who decides to put a dampener on things. This year that role has fallen to Christopher Elliott at MSNBC who has created a list of 8 things travelers should expect in 2008: all of them bad.

Here’s a summary of the bad news for travelers in the coming year:

• There’ll be more so-called “convenience fees” (for example, paying an extra fee to ensure that the specific type of rental car you want will be available)
• There’ll be more energy surcharges - after all, it’s not the travel company’s fault that you’re damaging the environment by traveling
• Rental car prices will rise
• Road traffic problems in the United States will worsen (Elliott suggests using trains)
• Cruise costs will increase as cruise companies start charging more often for “extras” that used to be “included”
• Hotel room costs in the United States will rise - because there are too many travelers and not quite enough rooms
• Airlines will treat customers even worse - despite the pending introduction of a passengers bill of rights in the United States
• More travel company, airline and hotel mergers will reduce competition and make things worse for travelers