The top ten visited countries of 2023 have been revealed, with short haul flights being the favourite.
Spain came out on top after coming second in 2022, and Barcelona was also the most visited city – where flights average around £50 with Ryanair.
However, even with short haul flight destinations being in favour, the second favourite destination was in fact the USA – with the state of California racking up 278.3 million visitors in 2023.
Tourist Kieran Wellington, 29, went to Spain in 2022 and stayed in Sitges.
He said his biggest reason for choosing to go to Spain was the fact his partner Henry speaks Spanish which helped with the locals as they appreciate tourists making the effort with speaking the language.
However, for people who don’t speak the language, they may find it that slight bit more difficult.
Wellington said said: “Because Henry, my partner, knew the language a bit better it’s probably easier for him where I was just stood there awkwardly not knowing what they were saying.”
Roughly five hundred million people across the world speak Spanish, which the locals appreciate as it makes it a lot easier to be able to communicate with them especially with the locals who work in the hospitality industry!
Wellington continued: “We’re LQBTQ so that resort is very known to be very friendly for gay people, so that also played into our thinking a little bit as to why we went.”
Wellington explained some of the factors he and his partner took into consideration when they were looking at where exactly they wanted to stay.
He said: “Sitges is right on the coast, and I love the beach, so I think that the golden sun, the hot weather and the Mediterranean Sea really attracted us to the area.”
With the beaches, the culture and of course the sun being big pull factors for choosing an abroad holiday, the culture also seems to be a massive factor when it comes to choosing the destination.
Wellington also went to Dublin this year and he said: “The culture was a big part of why we chose to go to Dublin, however it was more expensive than Spain, but it was the capital and its closer to the UK.”
So, what is the biggest pull factor for you when you’re choosing your next holiday?
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