Spanish destinations are on the up…

Current booking trends at On the Beach, the UK’s leading online travel agent suggest that Turkey and Egypt will once again be most popular destinations for British holidaymakers this summer.

Destinations across Turkey and Egypt are selling above last year, with sales up 63% and 47% respectively.

Research conducted by the online travel agent shows that whilst the UK is slowing dragging itself out of recession, money conscious Britons are looking for even better holiday deals this year.

Interestingly, whilst the travel industry recently predicted a slump in sales of Spanish holidays again this year, On the Beach has seen a significant rise in bookings to Spanish destinations over the past few weeks.

Sales of holidays to Spanish destinations including the Balearic and Canary Islands have increased by 39% and 26% respectively year on year.

Areas of mainland Spain are also performing better than last year, with sales to the Costa Blanca up a promising 15%.

This rise in bookings to Spain supports the suggestion that many Britons will be taking just one main holiday this year and are looking for tried and trusted destinations.

Alistair Daly, Marketing Director at On the Beach said, “This year, we expected Turkey to be the most popular destination for holidaymakers once again. As a non-Euro country, it offers holidaymakers high quality, great value holidays. However, it’s encouraging to see sales of holidays to Spain and its islands steadily picking up, and we do expect this trend to continue.”

Current top five destinations for 2010 summer holidays:

1. Turkey
2. Egypt
3. Balearic Islands
4. Canary Islands
5. Costa Blanca