Far eastern short breaks prove popular

There is a growing demand among holidaymakers for long-haul short breaks, according to new statistics from travel website lastminute.com.

Short holidays in long-haul destinations have nearly doubled over the last five years, according to the report, with far eastern destinations such as Hong Kong, Bangkok and Beijing helping to fuel this growth, travel news site Travel Mole reports.

John Bevan, lastminute.com holiday and flight director, told Travel Mole: "Our sales of Cathay Pacific flights are more than double the level they were at this time last year, a jump which is fuelled by our customers' interest in long-haul short breaks as they continually demand ideas for new places to see and unusual things to do."

Lastminute.com reports that while there is growing interest in more off-beat destinations among short-trip holidaymakers, New York remains the most popular spot for a quick break.

Mr Bevan commented: "Hopping over the pond to the US for a few days or heading to Dubai is now seen as pretty mainstream in the UK and we are seeing increased demand for more unusual destinations with the likes of Hong Kong proving extremely popular."

While all but one of lastminute.com's top ten, long-haul short break destinations are in North America, Mr Bevan predicts that the 2008 Olympics in Beijing will increase interest in Asian mini breaks.

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