Top 10 long haul destinations

[January 2nd 2009]

The top 10 long haul holiday and business travel destinations in 2009 will include Shanghai and St Kitts according to British Airways.

The list of the anticipated most popular long haul destinations includes perennial favourites such as New York, Hong Kong and Sydney. Two South African cities – Cape Town and Johannesburg – are also featured, with the British Lions rugby tour to the country expected to attract large numbers of UK visitors.

As well as St Kitts, another popular Caribbean destination, St Lucia, makes the top 10 list. As the England cricket team get set to embark on a test series against the West Indies this winter, other Caribbean destinations such as Barbados and Jamaica are also likely to be busy.

The other cities featured in British Airways’ top 10 long haul destinations for 2009 are the iconic American West coast city of San Francisco and the emerging holiday and property hotspot of Dubai.

"It's not all doom and gloom for travel in the current economic climate as destinations such as Dubai and the Caribbean Islands of St Kitts and St Lucia continue to experience growth and investment, so we anticipate greater numbers of customers wanting to travel there,” comments British Airways' head of UK & Ireland sales, Richard Tams.

"Destinations such as New York will remain firm favourites with both business and leisure travellers despite the economic downturn as savvy flyers know there are still bargains to be had and the Far East and Australasia continue to draw people looking for real adventure experiences," Tams continues.

"South Africa will be popular thanks to the relative strength of the pound against the rand and the upcoming British Lions tour," he adds.

Many of the top 10 long haul destinations feature in the British Airways New Year sale which runs until January 27th and is for travel until September 2009. For example, return fares including all taxes and charges start from £259 to New York, £339 to San Francisco, £299 to Dubai, £479 to St Lucia, and £699 to Sydney.

Written by: Nick Purdom

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