Croatia has overtaken Spain to become been the most popular destination for self-catering holidays this summer, new data reveals.
Self-catering specialist Novasol reported a 20% rise in bookings to Croatia over last year.
Spain is the second most popular summer sun destination this year with bookings up 5% on 2017.
France is next with a 52% surge in bookings followed by Italy, up 43% and Denmark, up 10%.
While Spain and its islands lost the top spot for summer holidays, the country retained top spot for holidays outside of the peak summer season, with France the second most popular destination.
Novasol booking data also revealed a significant rise in bookings to Scandinavia with Denmark and Sweden proving particularly popular outside the peak summer season.
General manager Alex Stuart said: “The industry has been tipping Croatia as the next big thing for the last few years and our booking data shows that during the busy January booking period, 2018 is set to be a very big year for the destination in terms of tourist numbers.
“Bookings of our self-catering holiday homes for travel this this summer are up 22% on the previous year and up 12% across the whole year and if, as we expect, this trend continues throughout the year, it’s going to be a very successful year for the travel industry.”