The UK crowns Spain as the favorite holiday destination in 2012

By Julia Pastor, in Madrid | Towards the end of 2011, the British press published a news item, that was finally denied, regarding an evacuation plan that the Foreign Office was supposedly preparing to evacuate British citizens resident in Spain in case of a financial crunch. A few days later, at the beginning of the New Year, that same publications crown Spain as the favourite holiday destination for British families in 2012.

As reported on the digital daily Capital Madrid:

“British readers found these headlines in their newspapers: ‘Holiday costs fall by 40% due to the Euro crisis’; ‘Spain is still the favourite destination in Europe and the cheapest’ (Daily Express); ‘Spain is a cheaper holiday than five years ago’ (Daily Mirror); ‘Costa a lot less!: Holidays in Spain increase due to a 40% decrease in prices’ (The Daily Mail makes a joke by using the Spanish word ‘costa’); ‘A holiday in Spain provides the best value for the British’ (The Daily Telegraph). Oliver Smith adds that as a ‘favorite summer destination’ Spain this year will be the best bargain.”

On this occasion, the news is based on several reports: one from ABTA, the largest association of companies in the UK tourism industry with nearly 1,300 members, regarding the travel trends of the British for this year. Another report comes from the public company Post Office, which compares the average price of eight tourism products and services of 40 worldwide destinations, including the supplement of various pounds in the case of cities, countries or more distant resorts.

According to the ABTA report,

“Spain remains as a favorite destination for British families in 2011, increasing the number of visitors from the UK by 10%.

“In 2012, the number of tourist is expected to go down but they will mostly continue to travel to Spain, especially to the Balearic and Canary Islands and the different cities of the Mediterranean coast. Barcelona remains as the favorite urban destination but Madrid, Granada and Seville are gaining popularity.

In addition, the Post Office data at hand, the result is that Spain is the cheapest country and therefore preferred by the British, who, when preparing to go on holiday this year, will value above all whether the destination is within the limits of their budget or not. The truth is that the favourite destination is Sri Lanka but its remoteness is no competition and within Europe Spain beats all its opponents, including Portugal. The ten most attractive destinations in 2012 and their respective cost of services and products are tabulated as follows: 1) Sri Lanka (27.95 pounds); 2) Spain (37.72 pounds); 3) Czech Republic (39.57); 4) Bulgaria (39.65); 5) Mexico (44.03); 6) Hungary (45.57); 7) Portugal (45.58); eight) Thailand (46.15); 9) South Africa (47.62); 10) Vietnam (50.71).