Many of 2010’s hot destinations will be outside of Europe, according to ebookers.com booking data
Non-European destinations rule in ebookers’ 2010 hot list
Travellers are due to expand their horizons in 2010 with many of the year’s hot destinations expected to be outside of Europe, according to a study of ebookers.com customer bookings.
Just two of the online agency’s predicted top ten destinations for next year are in Europe (Rome and Venice), while the US is expected to be popular, with five destinations in the list.
The 2010 Fifa World Cup sees Cape Town make the top ten, while rapidly emerging destinations Dubai and Istanbul, the 2010 European capital of culture, also feature.
Ebookers.com believes the results of the survey prove consumer confidence is returning encouraging them to look at long-haul destinations.
Last year the situation was reversed with seven of the predicted top ten for 2009 in Europe as the recession started to take hold.
The continuing strength of the Euro is expected to continue to put travelers off Europe but the appearance of Honolulu and Las Vegas in the list suggests customers do have money to spend.
Ben Reynolds, head of marketing at ebookers.com, said: ‘’This year’s list reveals that people are still visiting old favourites such as New York and Rome, but that travellers are keen to head further afield to the cultural hotspot of Istanbul and the sun kissed beaches of the States.”
Although the World Cup next summer is expected to depress overall demand for travel while England remain in the competition South Africa is expecting 50,000 Brits to make the trip.
However Reynolds warned, while many customers were snapping up flights, they risked leaving it too late to book hotel accommodation.
He added: “With England making it through to the World Cup we knew there would be an increase in flights heading to South Africa.
“But what the current 2010 bookings data shows is that people are waiting until nearer the event to book hotel accommodation – which could leave thousands of football fans short of somewhere to sleep.”
Ebookers.com’s Hottest 10 Holiday destinations for 2010
– Istanbul
– Honolulu
– Miami Beach
– Cape Town
– Las Vegas
– New York
– Orlando
– Rome
– Venice
– Dubai
