Most popular holiday destinations named by American Express
Iceland has been identified as one of the hot new destinations for British travellers based on foreign currency sales for the first three months of the year.
American Express said Thailand, New Zealand, Barbados and Singapore had also risen up the scale, while Turkey, Canada, Hong Kong and Norway had slipped.
However, the top five destinations remain unchanged year on year: these are the eurozone, US, Australia, Egypt and Mexico.
Thailand moved up two places to sixth position, New Zealand also rose two places to eighth and Iceland leapt three places to 18th.
Iceland was recently voted the most welcoming to foreigners from 140 countries polled by the World Economic Forum and the country saw a 36% increase in tourists for the first two months of 2013,compared to the same time last year.
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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