INTERNATIONAL. Leading travel analytics firm ForwardKeys has revealed the 100 most appealing destinations this summer (1 July to 31 August), based on how extensively travel to them has been searched online.
ForwardKeys Flight Searches data, which the analyst claims is the most comprehensive source of its type available, covers many billions of searches a year, via an extensive selection of online travel agencies, airlines and metasearch companies including Google Flights, Kayak, Kiwi.com, Skyscanner, Wego, and more. For this list, over 1.1 billion searches were analysed.
Heading the destination list is Bangkok, which is far ahead of the second most searched destination, Paris. ForwardKeys has produced its ranking indexed on the basis that Bangkok is 100.
The rest of the top 20, in order, with their index values are: Paris (73), London (72); Denpasar (69); Barcelona (68); New York (61); Lisbon (54); Istanbul (52); Madrid (52); Athens (51); Palma Mallorca (48); Singapore (46); Tokyo (45); Kuala Lumpur (45); Amsterdam (44); Copenhagen (42); Los Angeles (42); Rome (39); Manila (34); and Frankfurt (34).
ForwardKeys has also compared search rankings against last year, giving a rise and fall in relative popularity. Bangkok is up three places, pushing Paris off the top spot. London holds its position, in third place.
In capturing fourth position, Bali capital Denpasar rose six places, pushing down Barcelona to fifth, Lisbon to seventh, Istanbul to eighth, Madrid to ninth and Palma Mallorca to 11th.
A new entrant in the top ten was Athens, up one place from 11th in 2022, while New York rose two places from eighth last year to sixth this year.
ForwardKeys noted some risers that made significant strides into the top 20 including Tokyo (+53 places to 13th, Kuala Lumpur (+24 to 14th), Singapore (+14 to 12th) and Manila (+8 to 19th). The travel analyst observed that the rise of these destinations is principally explained by the relatively late relaxation of COVID-19 travel restrictions, which triggered a surge in interest.
The top ten highest climber list is dominated by Asian and Australasian cities, which last summer were still subject to some of the strictest and most enduring pandemic travel regulations.
The highest climber is Taipei (+161 places to 56th). It is followed by Hong Kong (+129 to 39th); Seoul (+56 to 35th); Tokyo +53 places to 13th); Hanoi +41 places to 76th); Auckland (+41 places to 103rd); Melbourne +31 places to 75th); Ho Chi Minh City (+30 places to 52nd); Kuala Lumpur (+24 places to 14th); and Phuket (+24 places to 57th).
Analysis of ForwardKeys’ air ticketing database has also revealed some new trends. Throughout the pandemic and at the start of the recovery, leisure travel to beach destinations has been in the lead. However, that is now starting to change, the analyst noted.
Compared to this time last year, summer flight bookings to beach destinations are +22% ahead; however, urban destinations are +42% ahead, nature destinations are +45% ahead and shopping destinations are +53% ahead.
Looking at the global travel recovery, benchmarked against pre-pandemic (2019) levels, worldwide summer bookings are just -13% behind, according to ForwardKeys’ data, though there is a huge difference geographically.
The strongest major source market is the USA, where summer outbound flight bookings are now +11% ahead of 2019. It is followed by Canada, +4% ahead. The UK is just -3% behind and the EU -11% in arrears. Latin America is the next best revived continental source market, at -14% behind. It is followed by India (-17%), South Korea (-29%), GCC countries (-36%) and China (-69%).
Other notable trends highlighted by ForwardKeys in an analysis of flight bookings include the growth of London as a hub for multi-destination, long-haul trips to Europe, the attractiveness of music festivals and the greater speed of recovery in outbound travel from China compared to Japan.
ForwardKeys VP Insights Olivier Ponti said: “Congratulations to Bangkok in becoming this summer’s top of the travel pops. Its popularity is a clear sign that with the reopening of the Asian markets, we are about to see the first ‘normal’ summer since the pandemic, with 19 mainstream Asian cities listed in the top 100.
“The Caribbean also deserves congratulations because it has managed to maintain its popularity in the face of greater competition from numerous other destinations which are now open again.
“While the outlook for summer travel currently looks relatively rosy, there are a few reasons to be cautious. Inflation is high, so while consumers may again be travelling, they may not be spending quite so liberally.
“Also, if there is a late surge in demand, the recovery could be thwarted if operators are not prepared; and stories of travel chaos deter last minute bookings.”
The full report can be downloaded here. 
