TripAdvisor reveals the European destinations sparking greatest rises in tourism interest in 2011; Ilford takes top spot
TripAdvisor has revealed the destinations that saw the biggest increase in traveller interest based on traffic uplift on TripAdvisor over the past year, with British destinations seeing a significant soar in interest. The UK laid claim to eight of the ten destinations in the list, including the top finisher, Ilford.
The Olympics are likely a key factor in this year's fastest-growing destinations. Ilford is just a nine-minute train ride from the Olympic Park in Stratford, while third-place finisher Trafford will host 9 Olympic football matches at its Old Trafford Stadium. Seventh-place finisher, Salford, neighbours Trafford, while Hounslow's tenth-place finish could potentially be attributed to its proximity to Heathrow Airport, which is expecting its busiest time ever thanks to the Olympics.
“These destinations may not all be most obvious tourist hotspots, but for one reason or another they’ve sparked rapidly rising traveller attention this year,” commented Emma Shaw, TripAdvisor spokesperson. “For the British destinations, and especially Ilford, it’s encouraging news – and it’s likely we can attribute much of this spike in traffic to increased interest generally in the UK as excitement builds around next year’s Olympics.”
Ilford in East London tops the European list, followed by Valras-Plage in France, with the UK’s Trafford in third place. Other UK destinations in the list include Tamworth, Brandon, Salford, Warrington, Warminster and Hounslow in fourth, fifth, seventh, eighth, ninth and tenth places respectively.
Europe’s top ten fasting growing destinations for 2011 are as follows*:
1. Ilford, Essex – UK
2. Valras-Plage – France
3. Trafford, Greater Manchester – UK
4. Tamworth, Staffordshire – UK
5. Brandon, Suffolk – UK
6. Yalta – Ukraine
7. Salford, Greater Manchester – UK
8. Warrington, Cheshire – UK
9. Warminster, Wiltshire – UK
10. Hounslow, Middlesex – UK
For more information on these destinations, visit www.TripAdvisor.co.uk
NOTES TO EDITOR:
* List is based on the biggest increase in page views for search traffic year-on-year, across TripAdvisor branded sites globally, comparing, 1st Jan – 31st Oct 2010 versus the same dates in 2011
