The folks at UK tour company
Kuoni have just put out a report based on their 2013 Travel Trends (hey February is better late than never!) and forward bookings.
Good news is that long haul travel to
Thailand comes in 2nd most popular for the Brits. So where is more popular this year for the dentally challenged sandal wearers? Only travel to the
Maldives. And after Thailand comes Sri Lanka. I've been to both, and they are undeniably magical in very different ways. For me,
Maldives is purely about honeymoon. A week of indoor bedroom sports, coming up for air occasionally to go
scuba diving or to drink a champagne toast to the glorious sunsets. But frankly not much local indigenous culture (or even local people) to see or enjoy or experience on your distant atoll.
I will blog soon on how Thailand fared in the
top 10 Wedding destinations and top
10 Honeymoon destinations section of the report.
In making the announcement on
Thailand, Kuoni's report talks about
Bangkok as a captivating city, the
floating markets, and the
small island hideaways,"overlaid with a friendly, open culture."
Personally I would have questioned the use of a word like "overlaid" in the context of Thailand! ;)
But this should not detract from the enjoyment of perennial favourites such as
Phuket,
Koh Samui, and the up-and-coming
Koh Chang.
Oh, and I'll leave with a little language pronouncing lesson for all our British visitors to the Kingdom in 2013. Koh Chang is pronounced "got chung" (rhymes with hung). Otherwise your boat driver may not know where you want to go.
