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Destinations free from coronavirus see spike in searches

Holiday comparison website TravelSupermarket has reported “significant jumps” in online searches for countries which have so far remained free of coronavirus.

It has compared search data for March 9 to March 11 with the same period last week to see which destinations are in favour and which have fallen in popularity.

Emma Grimster, travel commentator at TravelSupermarket, said: “We have seen a huge 165% increase in searches, week-on-week, for the Greek island of Santorini (pictured) which is yet to report any cases of coronavirus.

“Similarly, searches for the unaffected areas of Barbados (up 88%), Zante (up 43%) and Bali (3%) are also showing increased demand.

She added: “Interestingly, Tenerife, one of Britain’s most popular holiday destinations, has made a comeback this week. TravelSupermarket reported searches for Tenerife were down by 75% earlier this month, as news reports showed holidaymakers staying at the H10 Adeje Palace Hotel were under lockdown, following the discovery of cases of coronavirus.

“This week TravelSupermarket has seen an uplift in searches of 68% for Tenerife, while the resort of Costa Adeje is up 41%.”


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Other increases include the Maldives (70%) which reported its first cases of the virus over the weekend.

Searches for Marmaris are up 37%, as Turkey reported its first case in the last 24 hours, while searches for Cyprus rose 17%, with the island’s first case reported on Tuesday.

The website also found holiday prices are steady, with the average so far this week at £469.62, slightly up on the figure of £457.51 last week.

Looking at the searches made between March 5-11 compared to the period of February 13-19, the biggest drops are Marbella (down 87%) and Benalmadena (down 80%), while Italian destinations such as Sardinia, Rome, Sicily and Venice are down by between 75% and 85%.

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