The UK’s favourite holiday destinations have changed a lot since 2019, the last time most of us flew off on holiday. Two years of travel restrictions, lockdowns, and traffic-light lists have seen people change the holiday habits of a lifetime.
As the first half of the year comes to a close and the summer holidays begin, Holiday Extras, UK market leader in holiday extras such as airport parking, airport hotels, airport lounges and travel insurance, analysed 1.8m trips booked in the six months since the start of the year to see which destinations had seen the biggest increase in popularity – the new hot places to go this summer.
Here’s a round-up of the top twenty fastest risers for the first six months of the year:
Simon Hagger, Deputy CEO at Holiday Extras, commented,
“With all the changes to travel over the last three years it’s inevitable that travel habits have gone through some changes too.
“It’s great to see the world open back up, and people are reuniting with friends and family in Australia, or heading out for long-delayed bucket-list holidays to Egypt and the Caribbean.
“People who flew in 2020 and 2021 found themselves exploring new places because their old favourites were closed, and this year they’re going back again – hence the incredible rise in popularity of Greece and Turkey as destinations, both of which stayed open almost all the way through the travel lockdowns. And of course for many people the cost of living crunch means finding cheaper options, so some of the new top picks – like Turkey and Albania – are amongst the cheapest destinations for a budget summer holiday this year.”
