The holiday hotspots Brits were searching for in 2020
When we look back at 2020, it will always be remembered as the year we were collectively grounded.
For many, any travel plans they may have had were quickly cancelled in March, when coronavirus reached the UK and we went into our first nation-wide lockdown.
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While we scrambled to book in staycations when restrictions eased in early July, we were still holding a flame to the classic European summer getaway.
Brits were still searching for overseas vacations this year with Tenerife topping Yahoo UK’s list of the most-searched for destinations in 2020.
It seems Brits were keen to escape to the Canary isle and soak up some much-needed sun.
In June, Spain said it “was not” discussing a travel corridor with the UK, but it was added to the UK’s corridor list later in the summer.
The Canary Islands later opened a travel corridor with the UK in October, but the UK then removed it from its no-quarantine list on 12 December after a rise in cases.
Tenerife was closely followed by Malta on Yahoo’s list of the most searched destinations. The island nation was added then removed from the UK’s no-quarantine list over summer.
But staycation spots featured more highly than usual on the list too.
Cornwall, Blackpool and the Isle of Wight rounded off the top five most searched-for travel destinations this year, a parallel to the masses of Brits who headed to the seaside in the summer – remember when it was suspected that 100,000 beachgoers flocked to Bournemouth in the middle of a heatwave?
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In fact, UK destinations represent almost half of the most searched-for spots this year with Scotland, Whitby, Northumberland, Newquay, Cumbria and Jersey also featuring in the top 20.
Summer favourites like Benidorm, Turkey, Cyprus and Greece also made an appearance as we yearned, collectively, for a dip in the Med.
Greece, was one of the most popular overseas destinations for Brits to head this year, as it remained a travel corridor for most of the summer before being removed from the list in November (bar a few of its islands).
Far-flung destinations like Australia, the Maldives and the Caribbean featured as well, reflecting our desire for a temperate holiday.
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Australia has had strict arrival policies in place for a while now, with entry permitted only to Australian citizens and residents.
No quarantine is required for Brits returning from the Maldives and select countries in the Caribbean, but most travellers will have to present negative coronavirus tests on arrival to those destinations.
While holidays have been more or less a write-off in 2020, with the first rollouts of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine starting to take place, 2021 is looking more promising already.
The top 20 most searched-for travel destinations on Yahoo UK in 2020:
Tenerife
Malta
Cornwall
Blackpool
Isle of Wight
Turkey
Whitby
Australia
Benidorm
Scotland
Newquay
Maldives
Cyprus
Northumberland
Greece
Cumbria
Balkans
Jersey
Torremolinos
Caribbean
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