James Warren
TRAVEL compare site Skyscanner has revealed the top 10 list of countries most searched for after Boris Johnson revealed the UK’s Road Map to a return to European travel.
The UK Prime Minister gave the glimmer of hope in an address to the nation on Monday, and gave holiday makers the tentative date of May 17 to be able to travel to popular holiday destinations.
Since the announcement, holiday companies and airlines such as TUI and Easyjet have seen a whopping 600% rise in booking enquiries, giving a promising outlook to Spain’s summer tourist plans.
Skyscanner have also seen an impressive surge in bookings since the announcement, with Spain seeing the biggest spike in interest and topping the table of most popular destinations to visit once the travel ban is lifted.
Since the PM’s announcement, holiday bookings to Spain have increased 170% according to figures from the travel site.
Second on the list was Pakistan, a country that has had a relatively low COVID-19 incidence rate with just 12,708 deaths and 538,207 cases.
The UK is home to Europe’s largest Pakistani community, with more than 1.17 million currently calling the British Isles their home.
Third on the list is the United States despite strict travel restrictions still being in place for travel to the UK.
Greece, India, Turkey, Italy, Portugal and Thailand also made the top 10 and Spain’s neighbour, Portugal, registered the largest turnaround in interest with a 176% flip in bookings since Monday, despite the country being on the UK’s total travel ban list.
Skyscanner’s travel expert Jon Thorne, gave an optimistic outlook on the 2021 summer season across Europe, “It’s clear this was the news travellers were waiting for as we saw an immediate increase in bookings on Skyscanner following the announcement from the Prime Minister on Monday.”
“We expect that over the next few weeks and months as details become clearer for what is needed to unlock overseas travel, we will see travellers continue to react positively,” Thorne told the Telegraph.
On Monday the Prime Minister revealed the four-step plan for gradually lifting restrictions in England, as reported by the Olive Press yesterday.
All legal restrictions on social contact could be lifted by June 21, while international travel could be permitted from May 17.
