City breaks suffer as downturn bites - TravelMole


City breaks suffer as downturn bites

Monday, 19 Feb, 2009 0

A single long holiday and fewer short breaks have emerged as booking trends for this summer.

A study by online travel company Opodo of bookings made during January and up until February 10 against the same period last year show that southern hemisphere destinations are up but city breaks in the eurozone are suffering.

Long haul city trips to New York and Las Vegas are down this year, whereas Florida is making a comeback as holidaymakers look for safety and security in difficult times, according to the company.

Opodo UK country director Caroline Noble said the booking patterns indicate that holidaymakers are taking one longer holiday and fewer short breaks as the value of the pound makes European and US city breaks less attractive options.

“Bookings to Africa, Asia and the South Pacific have dramatically increased for summer 2009 whereas European cities are struggling, with Paris, Athens and Florence all reporting negative growth year-on-year,” she said.

“We are also noticing that our customers are booking short-haul much later this year with the economic uncertainty, so we expect to see bookings increase as they book short holidays later in the year to complement the longer one they have already booked for further afield.”

Top 10 destinations with the biggest growth this year (source Opodo):

1.                    Melbourne – Australia (up 400%)
2.                    Singapore (up 219%)
3.                    Delhi – India (up 165%)
4.                    Brisbane – Australia (up 115%)
5.                    Orlando – USA (up 90%)
6.                    Sydney – Australia (up 81%)
7.                    Washington – USA (up 68%)
8.                    Johannesburg – South Africa (up 56%)
9.                    Hong Kong (up 43%)
10.               Kuala Lumpur – Malaysia (41%)
 

by Phil Davies



 

profileimage

Phil Davies



Most Read

Kittipong Prapattong’s Plan for Thailand’s Tourism Growth: Taxes, Visas, and Campaigns

James Jin: Didatravel’s Journey from China to Global Reach and the Impact of AI on Travel

Darien Schaefer on Pensacola’s Evolution: From Small Town to Global Destination

Florida Tourism’s Next Frontier: Dana Young on Expanding Beyond the Classics

Patrick Harrison on Tampa Bay Tourism’s Resilience and Marketing Strategy

Bubba O’Keefe on Clarksdale’s Vibrant Music Scene

Commemorating Elvis and Embracing Tupelo’s Culture with Jennie Bradford Curlee

Craig Ray and the Expansion of the Blues Trail

Presenting Mississippi’s Cultural Trails with Katie Coats

Robert Terrell: A Journey Through BB King’s Influence

Rochelle Hicks: Celebrating Mississippi’s Musical Legacy

Exploring Jacksonville with Katie Mitura: The Flip Side of Florida
TRAINING & COMPETITION

Our emails to you has bounced travelmole.com Or You can change your email from your profile Setting Section

Your region selection will be saved in your cookie for future visits. Please enable your cookie for TravelMole.com so this dialog box will not come up again.

Price Based Country test mode enabled for testing United States (US). You should do tests on private browsing mode. Browse in private with Firefox, Chrome and Safari