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TripAdvisor UK Places Cancun At Top Of The List
Cancun is wriggling its way into the interests of British sun-seekers according to TripAdvisor UK’s top beach destinations in the world. The suggestion of its growing popularity marks a huge shift from the UK’s typical holiday spots.
The UK as a whole has favored the beaches of Spain for decades. Benidorm, Magaluf, the Balearic Islands, and The Canary Isles are packed with British revelers seeking some respite from the UK’s much colder climates. With the British restrictions for returning almost fully returned to normal, a big spike in travel is expected in the coming months.
But the pattern may be seen to shift as Cancun found itself at the top of another travel destination list. TripAdvisor UK placed Cancun at the top of its top beach destinations in the world, tipping the likes of Bali, Crete, and the Dominican Republic to the number one spot. Other Mexican destinations like nearby Playa del Carmen and west coast option Cabo San Lucas also made it onto the top ten.
The pandemic has fueled Cancun’s success this year, thanks to Mexico’s comparatively lax entry requirements and relative freedom when visiting. To consider that Brits, who have some of the biggest summer travel numbers in the world, are validating a flight more than double the length of their usual hot spots is astounding for the Cancun tourist market.
Spain has had increased restrictions, especially for teenagers, making family holidays more complicated than in the past, and travel agents in the country have been quick to counter the problems by pushing flights to Cancun and other local spots.
Just this week, British travel agents Tui announced direct flights from Glasgow to Cancun will be running four times a week during the summer. Scotland alone has just under five and a half million people with two major airports serving its population. To compare, some states in the US have more than double the population and have the same or fewer flights available to Cancun. The market is blatantly there and is growing enough for airlines to continue adding flights as they go.
Other smaller airports like Doncaster Sheffield are also adding direct flights as the summer season approaches, and of course, London is a major hub for the flights. Several flights leave daily from the British capital using several airlines.
To understand how significant the shift is in destination for a similar holiday, a typical flight from London to Benidorm, Spain is just 2 and a half hours. A direct flight from London to Cancun takes a whopping 10 and a half hours. But tourists are still seeing fit to make the journey in the current situation.
Of course, holding on to this market may be tough in the future. As European destinations like Spain and Greece relax their restrictions, the ten-hour flight time may become a larger problem, effectively losing two days of a vacation or time off work. And of course, a long weekend trip is virtually out of the question with that time scale.
But for now, Cancun can enjoy the increased attention and hope that the different experience it can offer the British crowd could be enough to draw them back at least once every few years. The Mexican cuisine is very different, and the simple presence of fewer Brits can also be a welcome sight who find more fellow nationals in the sunny climes of Spain than they do Spanish.
Adding in Tulum’s airport next year offers a different crowd another experience and opens the region up to take even more visitors, and of course, the Maya Train will lay the entire Yucatan Peninsula open for exploration, again drawing travelers who are looking for more than just an all-inclusive and a nice beach. A trip to the area could be both relaxing, adventurous, and tick boxes for history buffs who will then be connected to all of the region’s stunning Mayan sites.
Those hoping to visit Cancun in the near future should keep on top of any restrictions as they are subject to change.
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