London was the top-searched travel destination in 2024 for prospective city breakers, according to a major travel company’s ‘Year in Travel’ report.

The insight into booking trends and habits for global destinations from eDreams ODIGEO revealed the English capital held the most allure for international travellers – and it’s already the second most-booked destination to date for 2025.

The travel platform, made up of four online travel agents – eDreams, GO Voyages, Opodo and Travellink – used searches and flight booking data between 1 January and 31 October 2024 to create its travel trends round-up.

In first place for the most-booked global destinations was the city of love and light, and host of the 2024 Olympics: Paris.

Spanish holiday hotspots Barcelona and Palma de Mallorca rounded off the top three with big-hitting city breaks to Madrid, Rome and Lisbon, all making the top 10 popular places.

Topping the trending table, demand to visit Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, increased by almost 50 per cent compared to 2023.

Hurghada, Egypt (+38 per cent) and Santiago de Chile (+36 per cent) closely followed, likely due to these destinations’ opportunities for cultural exploration, rugged landscapes and adventure tourism, said eDreams ODIGEO.

Spain’s Bilbao, Stuttgart in Germany and Jersey were three new additions to make the top 50, as UK tourists “showed an appetite” for trying somewhere new.

Dana Dunne, CEO of eDreams ODIGEO, said that the latest research confirmed that 73 per cent of travellers are already or would be interested in using AI to plan their holidays, with TikTok, Instagram and Pinterest guiding media-inspired travel to new locations.

Closer to home, 20 per cent of tourists visiting the UK came from Germany, 17 per cent from Spain, with those from France making up 15 per cent of international visitors in 2024.

Last-minute long weekends were also a hit with UK travellers, with 34 per cent of all trips taken lasting between three and four days and 37 per cent of Brits booking just two weeks before departure.

According to eDreams ODIGEO, sports tourism, cultural events and concerts all influenced global travel trends for 2024.

The Olympic Games saw bookings to Paris up by 62 per cent compared to the same dates in 2023, while the Euros contributed to a 60 per cent increase in bookings to Germany.

The travel brand forecasts demand for long-haul city breaks to Bangkok, Tokyo and New York for the British in 2025, based on an analysis of Opodo’s search data.

As for the top booked destinations so far next year, short-haul stays on Amsterdam’s canals and beach breaks to Barcelona and Malaga are proving the most popular with UK tourists.

Dunne said: “When looking at the 2024 global travel map, regular favourite destinations – Paris, Barcelona and Palma – have topped the rankings, while further afield, we’ve seen destinations such as Kuala Lumpur, Hurghada and Santiago de Chile grow in popularity.

“Our data indicates that consumers are eager to explore new destinations and are embracing immersive travel opportunities. In addition to major sporting events, it’s been fascinating to track the impact of music tourism on global economies this year, with global artists like Taylor Swift inspiring travel to concert destinations across the world. This trend is set to continue into next year, with the Oasis reunion sparking an increase of global searches to Manchester by 700 per cent.”

Top 10 most-booked cities 2024

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