According to leading hotel booking website, Hotels.com, British travellers are going barmy for the UK's seaside destinations this year. The announcement comes following the Hotels.com site reporting that it has seen the number of searches for many of the country's traditional seaside resorts more than double in recent months - showing that British travellers are eager to holiday at home this year.
The English Riviera is proving to be the most popular destination this year for British holidaymakers, with searches for towns such as Torquay and Newquay up by more than 160% compared with this same time last year. With the combination of beautiful sandy beaches and fantastic surf, the picturesque counties of Devon and Cornwall are sparking renewed interest among British travellers.
However it is not just the southwest which is being searched for, the lures of rock, fun on the pier, and strolls along the promenade also appear to have helped provide a boost to the volumes of searches for many of the other traditional British seaside destinations. Hotel.com has seen interest rocketing in destinations like Blackpool (140%), Llandudno (130%) and Brighton (50%).
Jersey, offering the excitement of a British seaside resort with a Continental influence, is also a popular choice this summer with searches up 120% on this time last year.
Alison Couper, Director of Communications at Hotels.com, said: "It is great to see renewed interest in Britain's traditional seaside resorts. With a hot summer forecast and UK hotel prices at a record low, there has never been a better time to holiday at home and enjoy everything the UK has to offer."
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Notes to editors
All figures based on searches during January - April 2009, compared with the same four month period last year.
About Hotels.com
As part of the Expedia group which operates in all major markets with dedicated staff, Hotels.com offers more than 100,000 quality hotels worldwide. This means Hotels.com can provide quality coverage for all overseas city destinations, with many Paris, Rome or New York hotels (http://www.hotels.co.uk/
If a customer can find the same deal for less on a prepaid hotel, Hotels.com will match it. Hotels.com benefits from one of the largest hotel contracting teams in the industry negotiating the best rates for its users, plus user-contributed reviews of its properties. Travellers can book online or by contacting one of the multi-lingual call centres.
For more media information on Hotels.com please contact:
Cordy Griffiths
PR Manager
Hotels.com
42 Earlham St
Covent Garden
London
WC2H 9LA
020 7019 2360
www.hotels.co.uk
