Casablanca tops ‘hot list’ for Irish holiday makers

Of all the cities, in all the countries, in all the world – Irish travellers want to visit Casblanca.

Ingrid Bergman may have left all those years ago, but Irish holiday makers are now dying to visit the Moroccan city, after the destination topped Hotel.com’s new league table of fast-rising locales.

Casablanca topped Hotels.com and Irish Hotels.com newly-launched ‘hot list’, revealing a 496% increase in searches for the city in June 2010 compared to June 2009, with surprise runner-up, the Indian capital New Delhi (a 477% increase) marking the new variety of exotic locations piquing Irish traveller’s interest.

Old Irish reliable Playa De Las Americas in Tenerife (9^th) and summer holiday mainstay Fuerteventura in the Canary Island (16^th) also helped round out the monthly league table, which shows the destinations that have experienced the biggest growth in searches when compared to the same period the year before.

Two of the biggest surprises from the top 20 were the lack of any US destination and the surge in popularity for Lebanon capital Beirut, which experienced a 365% upsurge in searches from June 2009.

Alison Couper, Communications Director at Hotels.com, posited her opinion on some of the shock results: “There were some real surprises in the top 20 list in June with Casablanca coming out on top. The figures indicate that North Africa is becoming increasingly popular with Irish travellers wanting to holiday outside the Eurozone, with both Marrakech and Alexandria in Egypt making the list.”

Still, with so many potentially exciting destinations, there could be just one winner. For holiday-makers yet to be convinced of Casablanca’s charms, to paraphrase a certain icon, if you never visited the Moroccan city you’ll regret it. Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow, but soon and for the rest of your life.

Growth in searches on Hotels.com in Ireland comparing June 2009 with June 2010

LISTEN: You Must Be Jokin’ with Aideen McQueen – Faith healers, Coolock craic and Gigging as Gaeilge