Travel Trends Unpacked: “dupe destinations” and a retro routes revival among consumer trends revealed by UK’s largest group of airports
- MAG releases analysis of UK travel and airport retail trends, giving fascinating insight into consumer habits
- Likes of Bosnia, Montenegro and Albania rise up the charts to challenge Spanish favourites
- Demand for North African destinations also soars, while New York remains long-haul hotspot
- Report also reveals most popular books, magazines, football shirts and fragrances
Tik-Tok trends have boosted the popularity of so-called “dupe destinations,” sending them soaring up the list of top places to visit for UK travellers, according to analysis released today by MAG.
A growing number of holiday-makers swapped Alicante for Albania, Malaga for Montenegro and Benidorm for Bosnia, with official figures showing trips to these destinations were up nearly 300% last year.
MAG’s inaugural Travel Trends Unpacked report also shows that travellers flying further afield continued to flock to New York, which celebrated its third year on top of the long-haul leaderboard. But the Big Apple was joined in the top five by China – up 90% - and in the top 10 by Saudi Arabia, with trips up 35%.
MAG – which operates Manchester, London Stansted and East Midlands airports – crunched data from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) for its report, as well as looking at what Brits like to do at the airport, and how that varies around the country.
It can be revealed passengers in London and the South East snapped up nearly twice as many Toblerone bars as those in the North, while hit book ‘The Wrong Sister’ has been crowned the most-bought airport novel across the country. Meanwhile, more and more passengers are craving vegan, non-dairy or alcohol-free options before jetting off, while gut health products are also surging in popularity.
The findings in full
Destinations:
Spain continues to reign – Despite lots of movement lower down the charts, Spain still dominates the top five for UK passengers. Tenerife takes top spot, with more than 3.1m people jetting there in 2024, following by Malaga (3m) and Palma de Mallorca (3m). Dublin (2.8m) takes fourth spot and Alicante (2.8m) fifth.
East meets west – New York is by some distance the most popular long-haul destination with Brits, with 1.7m business and leisure trips there last year. Dubai (1.7m) came next, offering passengers a very different skyscraper setting. Coming in third, the Disneyland dream has come true for many with more than 800,000 passengers setting their sights on Orlando in 2024. Fourth on the list was Bangkok (816k) followed by Delhi (674k).
Age is more than just a number – it also impacts people’s holiday choices, it seems. Barcelona (692k) is the top choice for under 25s with its city on the beach and party scene making for an exciting trip with friends. It was closely followed by Amsterdam (531k). Malaga (1.8m) – which has been named as one of the best places to live for UK expats - was the preferred destination for those over 45, followed by Alicante (1.8m).
Retro rules again - North Africa has seen a resurgence in popularity in recent years with services to Tunisia, Egypt and Morocco seeing passenger numbers increase significantly. Tunisa saw an increase of 69% soaring up the popularity table by 13 places whilst Egypt and Morocco grew by 26% and 44% respectively. Turkey entered the top 10 for the first time, climbing from 16th place five years ago to 9th in 2024.
The North-South destination divide – MAG's analysis also shows where you live in the UK impacts where you like to fly to. Those in the South East, South West and East of England tend to choose closer-to-home options such as Edinburgh (1.8m) and Glasgow (1.3m), while passengers in the North and Midlands have an affinity for the Spanish hotspots such as Alicante (821k) and Antalya (601k). Dalaman (490k), in Turkey, appears in the top 10 destinations for Northern passengers, while Lisbon (1.3m) is in the top 10 for those from the South.
Shopping:
Flights of fiction - Book genre tells you a lot about what passengers are looking for, whether that’s something to keep them on the edge of their deckchair or to help them ‘find themself travelling’. General fiction reigns supreme for all airports as the top category bought, with “airport fiction” appearing in the top five of all MAG airports. At London Stansted, “personal development” books feature at fifth - the only airport where this genre makes the top five. Psychological thriller ‘The Wrong Sister’ by Claire Douglas the best seller across the year at all three airports, with ‘The Secret’ by Rhonda Byrne coming in second and ‘Yellowface’ by R.F.Kuang in third.
Variety is the spice of flight....at least down south - when it comes to magazines, Take a Break is the most bought at Manchester, East Midlands and London Stansted. The likes of Chat, Bella and Heat and Closer are all popular in the North and Midlands, but Stansted passengers have more eclectic tastes, with Private Eye in third, The Economist in fifth and Vogue in eight.
Who’s top of the Toblerone charts? - More than 74,000 milk message bars, the top seller in Toblerone's catalogue of bars, were sold across the year at MAG’s three airports – that's equivalent to more than 9,500m – taller than Mount Everest. Despite being almost neck and neck with Manchester on passenger volumes, the London airport exceeded them in Toblerone sold at London Stansted last year – a whopping 53,000 in comparison to Manchester’s 34,000.
Getting shirty – busting the old stereotype, there were more Manchester United shirts sold at Manchester Airport than City, but City placed higher at London Stansted – taking second spot behind Arsenal. Liverpool was the fourth most bought at Manchester, while East Midlands passengers can be named the most patriotic, with England shirts heading up the leaderboard.
How to please passenger palates - No airport visit isn’t complete without a cup of coffee to compliment the early-morning flight. Flat whites and cappuccinos unsurprisingly sit in the top 10 of products sold across MAG’s airports. Recently, passengers have moved away from the traditional milk options with alternative non-diary sales up by 10% in 2024. The most popular alternatives include oat milk at 60%, soya by 17% and coconut at 13%. Passenger's palates are ever-changing with vegan brunches and breakfast sales up more than 20% while alcohol- free beer sales have also increased by 16.9%.
The sweet smell of.... a Duty Free purchase – the most popular male fragrance at all three MAG airports was Hugo Boss Dark Blue, claiming top spot overall. The highest selling female scent was Gucci Bamboo, though Stansted passengers had a penchant for Tommy Hilfiger girl. Thanks to intense social media promotion, Sol de Janeiro Cheriosa is the top unisex fragrance, with the brand rocketing up the charts overall last year.
Andrew Macmillan, Chief Strategy Officer at MAG said:
“This analysis shows that passengers across the UK have some enduring favourites, whether that be city breaks in famous European cities or two-week holidays on the Med.
“But it also shows factors such as social media trends and the launch of new, affordable routes to lesser-known destinations can also influence travel habits.
“Across our airports, we are always working with our airlines to maximise the choice available to passengers, giving them great value access to more and more places around the world each year.
“Delving into retail and dining habits is also fascinating and shows how important it is to adapt to consumer trends. More and more, people look forward to starting their holidays at the airport, or preparing to relax while they’re away by picking up a good book or magazine.
“We are constantly reviewing our offer to ensure we give people the products, and food and drink options that suit all tastes and budgets.”
ENDS
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Notes to editors:
About MAG:
Manchester Airports Group (MAG) is the UK’s largest airports group. Its owns and operates Manchester, London Stansted and East Midlands Airports, alongside digital services business CAVU. In 2024/25, MAG served more than 65m passengers, flying to more than 260 global destinations. As part of its commitment to creating a more sustainable future for all, MAG has a target to make it’s airport operations net zero carbon by 2038 and is working with industry partners towards net zero aviation in the UK by 2050.