Shanghai, China tops the list with the highest jump in searches for British holidaymakers in 2010, in Asia & Oceania.

It was perhaps no Shanghai Surprise for the destination whose name means ‘top’ on ‘sea’, that flight searches were up by 151% year on year. Widely seen as the birthplace of everything considered modern in China, the city is currently hosting the Expo 2010 World’s Fair until the end of October - dubbed China “economic Olympics” - an obvious draw to overseas visitors.

Guangzhou, China also made the top five, with flight searches to the city up by 128% year on year.

Comparing the number of searches made in the first six months of 2010 with the same period last year, the report from Cheapflights.co.uk charts which destinations have risen in popularity throughout the year and which have fallen out of favour.

“There is clearly a trend for travel to China amongst UK travellers,” says Nadine Hallak, Travel Expert for Cheapflights.co.uk.

“While China has gained international standing for leading the world out of the recession, its tourism has gone from strength to strength,” says Hallak.

The report also uncovered that searches to Nadi, Fiji were up by 146%, to Siem Reap, Cambodia up by 141% and to Fukuoka, Japan up by 137%.

Ranking Destination Percentage change over 2009
1 Shanghai, China +151%
2 Nadi, Fiji +146%
3 Siem Reap, Cambodia +141%
4 Fukuoka, Japan +137%
5 Guangzhou, China +128%

On the flip side, the below destinations saw the biggest drop in popularity from 2009 to 2010.
Ranking Destination Percentage change over 2009
96 Paphos, Cyprus -11%
97 Dabolim, India -12%
98 Diyarbakir, Turkey -14%
99 Moscow, Russia -14%
100 Coimbatore, India -26%

To see Cheapflights.co.uk’s full list of 100 destinations in the 2010 Destination Popularity Index, visit http://www.cheapflights.co.uk/promos/asia-and-oceania-rising-stars/

Methodology
The 2010 Asia and Oceania Report was compiled by comparing the difference in search volume between 2009 and 2010 for the 100 most searched destinations in Asia and Oceania.