Room nights booked by fully independent travellers in destinations worldwide are exceeding 2012 figures with the key Christmas travel period still to come, according to Kuoni-owned GTA.
Room night figures already exceeding 2012, reports GTA
Room nights booked by fully independent travellers in destinations worldwide are exceeding 2012 figures with the key Christmas travel period still to come, according to Kuoni-owned GTA.
Egypt’s dominance as a destination has been eroded in recent years as visitors book other destinations as a result of unrest.
However, it is still the company’s third most popular destination in Africa after South Africa and Tunisia.
Algeria, Nigeria and Ghana are enjoying their third consecutive year of increases in the number of room nights booked, with the latter two countries tripling 2012 bookings.
The potential of the African continent is further confirmed with an A-Z of destinations enjoying year-on-year increases this year. Algeria, Benin, Chad, Ethiopia, the Ivory Coast, Namibia, Rwanda, Togo and Zambia all doubled bookings in 2013, according to a business update from the company to coincide with World Travel Market.
Turkey ranks alongside the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia as the most popular destinations in GTA’s Middle East region. Although they enjoy a smaller share of room nights booked, Tajikistan, Libya and Yemen are seeing increases in 2013.
Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia are the leading destinations in Asia, while Japan has quickly recovered from the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami of 2011 to see bookings rise by more than 40% this year.
Italy, France and the UK are the top destinations in western Europe, while Denmark, Sweden and Finland continue to perform best in Scandinavia.
Leading destinations in the Caribbean are Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and the Bahamas. Guadeloupe is seeing a 26% increase in room nights booked so far in 2013, making it one of the Caribbean’s rising destinations.
British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec are top selling destinations in Canada, while the top five in the US are Florida, New York state, California, Nevada and Hawaii. Delaware continues to see growth in 2013, while Montana, Wyoming and Maine are also all up on 2012.
Although it has a smaller share of North America’s room nights, Bermuda is witnessing its third year of growth.
GTA’s leading destinations in South America are Brazil, Mexico and Argentina, while Colombia has seen a third consecutive year of growth and is up 23% so far in 2013.
GTA chief executive Ivan Walter said: “Our latest insights show the rising influence of the Far East not only for the popularity of its varied destinations, but also the increasing power and potential of many nations as source markets for visitors to other parts of the world.
