Coronavirus is a subject which is virtually impossible to ignore at the moment. Many Britons are concerned about how the deadly virus will affect their holiday plans. Destinations with no or minimal cases of coronavirus are now highly sought after as holiday destinations.
Holiday comparison website, TravelSupermarket, revealed this week that data has shown some significant jumps in searches for destinations yet to announce any cases of coronavirus, and for those which have only recently done so.
TravelSupermarket looked at data from the start of this week (Monday 9 March – Wednesday 11 March) compared to the week before (Monday 2 March – Wednesday 4 March).
So where in the world is best to head to at this time?
The destination soaring in popularity at the moment is Santorini, an island off Greece, said TravelSupermarket.
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Emma Grimster, travel commentator atTravelSupermarket said: “We have seen a huge 165 per cent increase in searches, week on week, for the Greek island of Santorini which is yet to report any cases of coronavirus.”
In second place was Caribbean island Barbados followed by Greek island Zante in third place.
“Similarly, searches for the unaffected areas of Barbados (up 88 per cent), Zante (up 43 percent) and Bali (3 percent) are also showing increased demand,” explained Grimster.
A surprising revelation from the data was the destination seeing the fourth biggest increase this week – Spanish island Tenerife in the Canary Islands.
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“Interestingly, Tenerife, one of Brit’s most popular holiday destinations, has made a comeback this week, said Grimster.
“TravelSupermarket reported searches for Tenerife were down by -75 percent earlier this month, as news reports showed holidaymakers staying at the H10 Adeje Palace Hotel were under lockdown, following the discovery of cases of coronavirus.
“This week TravelSupermarket has seen both an uplift in searches of 68 per cent for Tenerife, while the resort of Costa Adeje is up 41 percent.”
Other uplifts include the Maldives (70 percent) which reported its first cases of the virus last weekend.
Destinations seeing increases in searches vs last week
Santorini – up 165 percent
Barbados – up 88 percent
Maldives – up 70 percent
Tenerife – up 68 percent
Zante, Greece – up 43 percent
Costa Adeje, Tenerife – up 41 percent
Marmaris, Dalaman, Turkey – up 37 percent
Cyprus – up 17 percent
Bali – up 3 percent
Grimster added that, looking at pricing week on week, overall, TravelSupermarket observed that the cost of booking a holiday is holding steady.
The average price last week was £457.51 versus this week’s cost of £469.62, which makes for just 3 per cent difference.
