Shopping and skiing out, safaris in: exchange rates take a

bite out of the Big Apple as European holiday prospects pick up

Africa, Portugal and Cyprus head Brits' holiday hit list

London, January 2009 - The prospect of Brits abandoning European holiday resorts in favour of African and non Euro-zone holidays have taken a hit as popularity for traditional European destinations such as Cyprus and Portugal have grown significantly over the last month. That's according to the latest traffic patterns from leading shopping comparison service, Kelkoo.co.uk.

Taken from traffic patterns since Christmas, African destinations such as Morrocco, Egypt and Mauritius and non-Euro countries such as Turkey were amongst the top searches early in the month, with the popularity of traditional European spots such as Cyprus and Portugal growing strongly over the last few weeks of the month.

With numbers of online travel-based enquiries lower than previous years, initial fears of a slow holiday-booking period have been eased somewhat as traffic has picked up significantly during what is one of the most important months for travel companies. There is a marked change in Brits holiday preferences, with traditionally popular searches such as New York and Skiing falling significantly over the last 12 months, but a 50% increase in searches for last-minute getaways and European car hire compared to December.

Bruce Fair, MD of Kelkoo.co.uk said of results: "Normally, we see much bigger numbers of people planning their summer holidays online immediately after Christmas, however this year the process has been delayed as people re-assessed their budgets."

"Interest in holidays outside the Eurozone and the popularity of African resorts had been increasing as the pound weakened, and was most pronounced at the beginning of the year. However, holidaymakers are showing their faith in European locations and we are even seeing strong interest in last-minute holidays. There seems to be confidence that the exchange rates will recover ahead of the summer and people know that they can get good value European holidays if they look in the right places and make the most of the best deals on offer."