Thursday 18 August 2011

NEWS FROM HOTELS.COM

The Inbetweeners Effect

Tourism surge as Brits follow The Inbetweeners to Malia

With The Inbetweeners Movie hitting the big screen this week, latest figures by Hotels.com reveal an increase in searches to Malia, Crete, where the nation’s favorite inbetweeners – Simon, Jay, Neil and Will take a trip in pursuit of the ultimate lad’s holiday. It appears the Greek destination is becoming a hit for fellow party-goers, with searches by holidaymakers up 243% this July when compared with the same time last year.

As Brits look to emulate the epic trip of the comedy foursome living up to their reputation as the ‘socially awkward’ teens, other findings from the hotel expert reveals that despite the tightening of purse strings, Brits are looking to head overseas this summer in hope of some guaranteed sunshine. Spanish destinations Cala Millor, Mallorca and Tenerife’s San Miguel de Abona, experienced an increase in searches of 360% and 321% respectively in July, whilst Greek destination Ayios Nikolaos also saw searches rise 346%.

Crawley, West Sussex also made it into the top ten of fastest rising searched destinations in July (up 432% year on year), as jet-setters choose to stay close to Gatwick airport ahead of an early morning check-in or late landing back into the UK.

Whilst Brits are looking to head abroad for their summer holidays, the Italians and Spanish are destined to stay closest to home. With nine out of the top ten fastest rising searched destinations for Italians residing within their own borders, seven out of the top ten fastest rising destinations searched for by the Spanish are also on the mainland, up 422% and 433% respectively when compared to the same time last year.

Kate Hopcraft from Hotels.com, said; ‘With thousands of Brits looking for a fun and lively get away this summer, it’s no surprise people are following in the footsteps of The Inbetweeners to the party town of Malia. With Neil’s extravagant dance moves and Simon on a mission to get over his break-up with Carly, there is definitely something everyone can relate to in this latest box office hit! ’

-Ends-

For more information, please call:
Freyja Phillips at Frank PR on 020 7693 6999 or email hotels.com@frankpr.it
Or Kate Hopcraft, khopcraft@hotels.com, 020 7019 2165

About Hotels.com
As part of the Expedia group which operates in all major markets, Hotels.com offers almost 140,000 quality hotels, B&Bs and serviced apartments worldwide. If a customer can find the same deal for less on a prepaid hotel, Hotels.com will match it. Hotels.com benefits from one of the largest hotel contracting teams in the industry negotiating the best rates for its customers, plus there are 2m reviews from users who have actually stayed in the hotels to ensure customers make an informed choice when booking. Hotels.com has recently launched its Welcome Rewards customer loyalty programme in the UK, where customers can earn a free night for every ten nights stayed (subject to Welcome Rewards terms and conditions as set out at www.hotels.com). Hotels.com won the Gold Award for best hotel booking site in Webuser magazine in February 2009. Travellers can book online or by contacting one of the multilingual call centres on 0871 200 0171.

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