Most popular destinations for 2009
Top 10 holiday destinations
The top 10 most searched for holiday destinations for 2009 have now been named.
Beach holiday hotspots in Spain, Portugal, Turkey and Cyprus feature prominently in the top 10, suggesting that Brits are still determined to take holidays despite the difficult economic conditions.
Flight search engine Skyscanner.net compiled the list based on the most searched for destinations by UK travellers for travel in 2009. The most popular destinations in Spain are Malaga, Alicante and Tenerife, which come in second, third and fourth respectively. Palma in Majorca is seventh, and the up and coming Spanish region of Murcia is tenth.
But heading the list in number one spot is London. This confirms that domestic air travel remains strong and more Brits are looking to take holidays in the UK such as short city breaks. Four other UK cities also made the top 50.
People looking for good value holidays outside the Eurozone have ensured that Turkey has become an increasingly popular holiday destination in the last year or so. This is confirmed by the appearance of Dalaman in Turkey in fifth spot in the most searched for flight destinations.
Long-time holiday favourites Faro in Portugal and Paphos in Cyprus appear in sixth and ninth place respectively. Not surprisingly a skiing holiday destination also appears in the top 10. Geneva in Switzerland, one of the gateways to the Alps, is the eighth most searched for destination.
Skyscanner co-founder Barry Smith comments: “It’s still early days for 2009 bookings, but already we can see that British people don’t want to give up their beach holidays, even when times are tough. This year, it’s all about making your money go as far as possible, which is why Spain remains an extremely popular destination for British travellers. It’s close, warm and still very good value. Turkey is another value destination, jumping up five places compared to last year’s top 10, partly because it’s outside the Eurozone.”
Skyscanner is predicting that short haul destinations will be the winners in 2009. Of the top 50 most searched for destinations only eight were outside Europe. But New York and Orlando in Florida remain popular despite the pound weakening against the dollar, as both made the top 20.
Written by: Nick Purdom, January 7, 2009
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