With the UK summer holiday now over and a cooler, duller and wetter than average August, Skyscanner looks at the latest flight trends for last month.
Searches for flights to Malaga and Alicante remained immensely popular, as these Spanish destinations held on to their two top positions whilst Tenerife rose two places to number three, overtaking both Palma and Dalaman. Ibiza rose one spot to number six, overtaking Faro, while London, New York and Amsterdam all held their top ten positions at eight, nine and ten.
10 Most Popular Cities
1. Malaga
2. Alicante
3. Tenerife
4. Palma
5. Dalaman
6. Ibiza
7. Faro
8. London
9. New York
10. Amsterdam
Highest Climbers
Cape Town climbed 16 places, likely thanks to South Africa’s hosting of a very successful World Cup tournament which brought a huge amount of attention to the country. Greek sun spot Rhodes rose 15 places, which will no doubt come as good news to Greece which has suffered a host of negative press coverage this summer.
Egypt’s Sharm El Sheikh and Tel Aviv in Israel were both up 14 places; Vienna was up 11 places, and Munich rose ten as the infamous Oktoberfest draws nearer. Further afield, Kuala Lumpur rose 11 spots, whilst domestically, both Manchester and Aberdeen rose ten places during August; Glasgow, Newcastle and Edinburgh also saw small rises in rankings.
Biggest Fallers
Croatia took heavy hits with its two biggest resort towns both dropping drastically in the charts; Split fell 21 spots, and Dubrovnik 20. Portugal’s Porto fell 17 spots and Spain’s Gerona fell 15.
New Entries
Only three new entries to the top 100 this month, Kos which came in at number 92, and Zante which entered at number 94 – both destinations in Greece. Germany’s Cologne scraped into the rankings at number 100.
Drop Outs
After a brief appearance in the Top 100, Albania’s capital Tirana disappeared from the charts this month. Poland’s Gdansk also exited the charts, and Singapore too fell out of the rankings.
10 Most Popular Country Destinations Overall
Spain remains the most searched for flight destination by UK travellers, followed by the UK itself, then the USA, which is the only country outside of Europe to make the top ten.
1. Spain
2. United Kingdom
3. United States
4. Turkey
5. Italy
6. France
7. Greece
8. Germany
9. Portugal
10. Cyprus
Most Popular Weekend Breaks
Amsterdam was the most popular destination for travel over the weekend, followed by Malaga, Ibiza, Dublin and Alicante.
1. Amsterdam
2. Malaga
3. Ibiza
4. Dublin
5. Alicante
6. Barcelona
7. Palma
8. London
9. Paris
10. Edinburgh
Inbound UK Visits
Looking at countries from which visitors to the UK were originating, Spain and Italy remained in top positions, but Turkey shot up four places to number three. Germany, despite being the world’s biggest spenders on international tourism fell one place to number four, while Greece also rose in the rankings to number five.
1. Spain
2. Italy
3. Turkey
4. Germany
5. Greece
6. Ireland
7. Cyprus
8. Poland
9. France
10. Portugal
Most Popular Destination Countries Across All Markets
Examining search data across all markets, Spain was the most popular destination country overall, followed by the UK, Italy, USA and Germany.
1. Spain
2. United Kingdom
3. Italy
4. United States
5. Germany
6. France
7. Turkey
8. Greece
9. Portugal
10. Poland
