Greece, Cyprus Top ‘Sunshine Saturday’ Choices for the Brits

Greece and Cyprus are at the top of British travelers’ bucket lists according to travel agents working full speed ahead for ‘Sunshine Saturday’, the first Saturday of January and the busiest day for holiday bookings in the UK.

Sunshine Saturday is considered the busiest day of the year for travel operators as thousands of people make plans for their summer holidays in efforts to cope with the winter blues.

According to travel experts, Greece and Cyprus are expected to be among the most popular holiday destinations for Brits this year. Turkey appears to be making its way back into the the picture with Thomas Cook saying searches were up 24 percent year on year since Christmas Day. New destinations include Marsa Alam in Egypt, Tunisia and Marrakech in Morocco. Thomas Cook said it expected double the normal number of bookings over the ‘Sunshine Saturday’ weekend.

TUI Group also expected a busy first Saturday of the year with nearly 1 million people set to visit a TUI store or website to book a getaway. New destinations for the German operator include Montenegro and Cape Verde.

“We expect to take double the bookings of a normal weekend… as holidaymakers move quickly to make sure they get their next dose of sunshine in the diary,” said Chris Mottershead, managing director at Thomas Cook UK, adding that more millennials and families will join the more traditional package holidaymakers in 2018.