A BARGAIN holiday destination is now the most popular winter sun spot, knocking Spain off top spot.
Tenerife was typically the most popular place for people to hide from the cold winters, but holidaymakers are now choosing to head to Turkey instead.
According to data released in On the Beach’s annual Big Winter Sun Report, Antalya is now the top region for winter sun seekers.
This winter season, 11.9 per cent of tourists travelled to Antalya, taking it above Tenerife, which still remains popular among winter travellers.
It marks the first time in decades that the Spanish resort has lost top spot and reveals a growing shift of holidaymakers moving away from the Canaries as a winter sun location.
Lanzarote is the third most popular destination this year, followed by Costa Blanca.
Taking fifth spot is another rising st, Hurghada in Egypt, which is showing growth with a 53 per cent increase in winter sun holidays year-on-year.
Another Egyptian hotspot, Sharm El Sheikh, has jumped up 10 places from last year, becoming the eighth most popular region with an incredible 161% increase in holidaymakers year-on-year.
Zoe Harris, chief customer officer at On the Beach said: “Turkey has finally taken over Tenerife as the number one winter sun destination.
“In recent years we noticed huge increases in holidaymakers visiting Antalya and Dalaman and now it seems the shift is finally complete.
“An increase in flight options to Turkey and Egypt and a rise of incredible all-inclusive hotel offerings are the reasons why we’re seeing this change in the guard.
“Plus it helps that both locations offer year-round sun.”
According to On the Beach’s data, the number of people holidaying in Turkey has increased 36 per cent and winter holidays to Egypt have increased 84 per cent.
The number of holidaymakers travelling to the Canaries, which is usually top of the tree every winter, has increased 15 per cent, however the overall percentage share has dropped, as these new destinations grow in popularity.
One of the reasons why Turkey is so popular, particularly among Brits at the moment, is the price – with some trips cheaper now than they were six years ago.
This is a result of the performance of the Turkish Lira (TL), with £1 increasing from 5.85TL in 2018 to a staggering 38TL this year.
Data revealed in the Big Winter Sun Report also showed that Turkey and Egypt aren’t the only destinations seeing a boom in visitors this winter.
The USA and UAE are also big draws, with holidays to the two locations increasing 382 per cent and 66 per cent.
Harris continued: “Despite a challenging year in terms of inflation, energy prices and customers potentially having less disposable income, winter holiday bookings overall are up 26 per cent.
“Four and five star bookings are up 31 per cent and 28 per cent respectively.
“Long haul destinations are also growing as winter hotspots, we’ve seen a huge growth in holidays to New York, Las Vegas and Dubai as the destinations become more popular than ever before.”
Meanwhile, the temperature hits 25C in these winter sun destinations.
And this holiday hotspot has warm winter weather just a few hours away from the UK.
