11 February 2010

It costa lot but Spain's still top

Spain still dominates the UK travel market despite the strong euro, according to travel search site Skyscanner.

The site says that in its January search rankings five Spanish cities were in its top ten. Faro and Dalaman also made the list, underlining the British love affair with sun and sand destinations.

The site says city breaks have retained their popularity despite the recession, with searches to New York and Amsterdam also strong. The other most popular medium and long haul destinations searched for during January were Bangkok, Orlando, Sharm el Sheikh, Dubai, Sydney, Johannesburg, Las Vegas, Delhi and Hong Kong.

France performed poorly, with only one French city in the top 50 searches. Skyscanner suggests this may be due to the increased popularity of Eurostar over flying.

Skyscanner co-founder and business director Barry Smith said: "Following a year of economic stress in 2009, we’re waiting to see which locations rise from the ashes of recession in 2010. Spain is still the top dog by a long shot, but Portugal, Italy and Cyprus have a significant slice of the market and Turkey and Thailand are nipping at its heels. Orlando should do well this year due to the opening of Harry Potter’s Wizarding World, and South Africa will also see a spike due to the World Cup."

By Dinah Hatch