Expedia names London as top destination for global travellers

Expedia names London as top destination for global travellers

Several UK cities see double-digit growth in first quarter, including Birmingham, Bristol, Newcastle, Manchester and Glasgow Continue reading

London was the top destination for global travellers who booked on Expedia Group sites in the first quarter of 2018.

Several UK cities saw double-digit growth, including Birmingham up 15% year-on-year, Bristol up 15%, plus Newcastle, Manchester and Glasgow up 10%.

Top performing regions included Yorkshire, East Anglia, Essex and the south-west.

Demand in Scotland increased in the first quarter of the year compared with the same period last year.

For the UK as a whole, hoteliers enjoyed positive growth from overseas travellers, with demand buoyant from traditionally strong visitor markets such as the US, up almost 55% on the same period last year, Germany, up almost 45% and Australia up 45%.

Demand was further fuelled by visitors from fast-growing markets such as Spain, Argentina, Ireland and Mexico, which all achieved triple-digit increases.

Notable growth in travellers from Far East countries such as China, Korea and Hong Kong was also recorded.

Package demand to the UK has also grown strongly across a number of source countries as marketing campaigns promoting the benefits of visiting ‘Destination UK’ had an impact.

This helped push up average daily rates for bookings with a combination of hotel, and/or flight and/or car hire.

Expedia lodging partner services UK and Ireland market management director Irene Roberts said: “Our first quarter data for 2018 shows what an encouraging start to the year our hotel partners across the UK have enjoyed.

“Our proposition of providing them with a global reach through our investment in technology and marketing is helping capture those valuable international visitors and driving conversions.

“It’s particularly encouraging to see strong growth in demand across many areas of the country and with the approaching UK summertime popular with international guests, hotels should hopefully enjoy some busy months ahead.”

Expedia Group top destinations in Q1 across the EMEA region were:

1. London
2. Paris
3. Dubai
4. Rome
5. Amsterdam
6. Berlin
7. Barcelona
8. Istanbul
9. Madrid
10. Stockholm