Friday 6 August 2010
Delhi, Mumbai and Melbourne rocket; Albania enters Top 100; Beijing, Boston and Birmingham bale out
With the summer holidays in full swing, the end of the South Africa World Cup and a mixed bag of weather for the UK all having an effect on travel patterns, cheap flights comparison site Skyscanner reveals the flight trends for July 2010.
Spain clung on to its top three spots, with Malaga, Alicante and Palma in positions one, two and three. But it lost out on fourth place as Turkey's Dalaman continued its incredible growth spurt and overtook Tenerife, which moved down to position five.
Faro held steady at number six, Ibiza rose one place to number seven, displacing London to number eight. New York stayed firm at number nine, and Amsterdam rose three places to make it to tenth position.
Highest Climbers
Overall the biggest climbers were long haul destinations with India and Australia faring particularly well. Delhi stormed up the charts rising a massive 17 places, more than any other destination, whilst Mumbai rose 11 spots. Both Melbourne and Perth moved up ten places, as did Vancouver in Canada and Auckland in New Zealand.
Closer to home, it was Turkey which fared best, with Bodrum rising eight places and Antalya rising ten, no doubt aided by rival Greece's ongoing economic and political woes. Spain's Fuerteventura and Menorca also performed well, rising eight and nine places respectively.
Biggest Fallers
Cape Town (-22) and Johannesburg (-13) took the biggest falls as the highly successful South Africa World Cup came to a close. Kuala Lumpur also saw a drop of ten places, and closer to home Brussels fell 13 places. Domestically, Newquay and Manchester both saw falls of 16 and 10 places respectively, suggesting that the 'staycation' trend may not be as popular as reported.
New Entries
Albania's capital Tirana appeared for the first time in the Skyscanner Top 100, possibly heralding the start of the country's move from relative obscurity to a more mainstream destination, following record numbers of backpackers heading there in 2009. Poland's Gdansk, a popular resort town on the Baltic Sea and Germany's Hamburg also entered.
Drop Outs
China's capital Beijing disappeared from the Top 100 all together, as did Birmingham in the UK, and Boston, USA.
Top 10 Most Searched for Destinations July 2010
1. Malaga (Spain) [0]
2. Alicante (Spain) [0]
3. Palma (Spain) [0]
4. Dalaman (Turkey) [+1]
5. Tenerife (Spain) [-1]
6. Faro (Portugal) [0]
7. Ibiza (Spain) [+1]
8. London (UK) [-1]
9. New York (USA) [0]
10. Amsterdam (Netherlands) [+3]
11. Bodrum (Turkey) [+8]
12. Dublin (Ireland) [-1]
13. Larnaca (Cyprus) [-1]
14. Orlando (USA) [-4]
15. Barcelona (Spain) [-1]
16. Bangkok (Thailand) [+1]
17. Paphos (Cyprus) [-1]
18. Paris (France) [-3]
19. Lanzarote (Spain) [-1]
20. Rome (Italy) [+1]
21. Edinburgh (UK) [+2]
22. Belfast (UK) [0]
23. Murcia (Spain) [-3]
24. Berlin (Germany) [0]
25. Prague (Czech Republic) [+3]
26. Gran Canaria (Spain) [+6]
27. Nice (France) [+2]
28. Istanbul (Turkey) [+3]
29. Milan (Italy) [-3]
30. Glasgow (UK) [-5]
31. Madrid (Spain) [-4]
32. Crete (Greece) [+1]
33. Gerona (Spain) [+5]
34. Athens (Greece) [-4]
35. Venice (Italy) [0]
36. Sydney (Australia) [-2]
37. Sharm El Sheikh (Egypt) [+5]
38. Lisbon (Portugal) [+2]
39. Antalya (Turkey) [+10]
40. Krakow (Poland) [+4]
41. Geneva (Switzerland) [-4]
42. Luqa (Malta) [-3]
43. Stockholm (Sweden) [-7]
44. Munich (Germany) [+4]
45. Dubai (UAE) [+2]
46. Budapest (Hungary) [-5]
47. Marrakech (Morocco) [-4]
48. Fuerteventura (Spain) [+8]
49. Corfu (Greece) [-3]
50. Toronto (Canada) [+3]
51. Hong Kong (Hong Kong) [-1]
52. Menorca (Spain) [+9]
53. Pisa (Italy) [-1]
54. Warsaw (Poland) [+1]
55. Copenhagen (Denmark) [+3]
56. Frankfurt (Germany) [-2]
57. Los Angeles (USA) [-6]
58. Johannesburg (South Africa) [-13]
59. Melbourne (Australia) [+10]
60. Valencia (Spain) [-1]
61. Delhi (India) [+17]
62. Cork (Ireland) [+1]
63. Dusseldorf (Germany) [-1]
64. Mumbai (India) [+11]
65. Dubrovnik (Croatia) [+3]
66. Split (Croatia) [+7]
67. Manchester (UK) [-10]
68. Las Vegas (USA) [-3]
69. Reus (Spain) [+5]
70. Zurich (Switzerland) [+1]
71. Sofia (Bulgaria) [-7]
72. Oslo (Norway) [-5]
73. Rhodes (Greece) [+7]
74. Jersey (Channel Islands) [-2]
75. Auckland (New Zealand) [+10]
76. Newquay (UK) [-16]
77. Cairo (Egypt) [0]
78. Naples (Italy) [+6]
79. Brussels (Belgium) [-13]
80. Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) [-10]
81. Brisbane (Australia) [+7]
82. Porto (Portugal) [-3]
83. Riga (Latvia) [-2]
84. Izmir (Turkey) [+7]
85. Vienna (Austria) [-2]
86. Perth (Australia) [+10]
87. Burgas (Bulgaria) [-1]
88. Aberdeen (UK) [+2]
89. Vancouver (Canada) [+10]
90. Tirana (Albania) [NEW ENTRY]
91. San Francisco (USA) [-9]
92. Gdansk (Poland) [NEW ENTRY]
93. Tel Aviv (Israel) [+4]
94. Bucharest (Romania) [-5]
95. Miami (USA) [-1]
96. Hamburg (Germany) [NEW ENTRY]
97. Newcastle (UK) [-5]
98. Cape Town (South Africa) [-22]
99. Inverness (UK) [-1]
100. Singapore (Singapore) [-7]
Rankings are based on the number of searches for flights during July 2010 on the Skyscanner website for UK departures. Ranking movement is based on change compared to
June 2010 Flight Trends.
Inbound UK Tourism
Examining patterns for incoming visitors to the UK, Spain ranks number one, likely aided by the large numbers of British ex-pats commuting between the two countries. Italy ranks at number two, followed by Germany, Ireland and Poland.
Top 10 Inbound Destinations to the UK
1. Spain
2. Italy
3. Germany
4. Ireland
5. Poland
6. France
7. Turkey
8. Greece
9. Portugal
10. Cyprus