Short breaks and fresh destinations vying for the attention of holidaymakers
(03/01/2008)

38% of holidaymakers surveyed by holidaylettings.co.uk said they take up to two short breaks (3-5 nights) in addition to their main holiday each year. While New York and Amsterdam still dominate the city break market, low-cost flight routes are pivotal in opening up previously unexplored cities and countries to both visitors and holiday home investors.

Top 10 City Break Destinations 2007 are:
1 New York
2 Amsterdam
3 Cairo
4 Copenhagen
5 Athens
6 Sydney
7 London
8 Munich
9 Naples
10 Paris

Top city break destinations for 2008 include Kiev, Riga, Moscow, Kracow, Dubrovnik and Prague amongst others. Supporting trend data from the latest Holiday Home Hotspots Review reveals that people enquiring about trips to these locations look to travel in the traditional ‘shoulder’ seasons of March, April, October, November, when prices are lower and tourists fewer.

“Destinations that in 2008 might be a city break, may in 2009 or beyond become week or fortnight long holiday destinations, if not holiday home locations for some potential investors,” comments Ross Elder, Managing Director of holidaylettings.co.uk. “The last ten years in Spain or the current situation in Croatia are examples of destinations where visitors are comfortable travelling to, are well provided for as tourists, where they can source affordable flights to and where potential for capital gains appreciation will entice investors.”

Spain, France, Italy and the UK are still the most popular destinations for holidaymakers and the school holiday periods are still the weeks most in demand; equally they are the most expensive weeks to travel, because of the volume of demand. However, destinations climbing the popularity ladder include Malta, which was traditionally a hotel and package holiday destination and Croatia, which has recovered magnificently from the break up of Yugoslavia to today attract visitors and investors from all around the world.

Looking ahead to 2008, the most popular winter sun destination is the Canary Islands, which receives three times as many travel requests for December than for July or for August, due to its year round temperate climate and the availability of short haul, budget flights from the UK. Further afield India is currently the most requested long haul destination for a post Christmas sunshine break. Other destinations that perform well at this time of year are Australia, South Africa, Thailand and islands like Mauritius.