Australia is 'most desirable destination'

Australia is next year's most desirable destination among travellers, a new survey shows.

It is well ahead of trendy hotspots such as Prague and Krakow in travellers' lists of must-see places, according to research by TripAdvisor.

With Italy in second place and Hawaii in third when travellers were asked where they would go if money was no object, the top three has a distinctly traditional look.

"More than 3,000 travelers from around the world told us that, rather than heading to the latest trendy hot spots this year, most are drawn to tried and true, traditionally popular destinations," said TripAdvisor's Christine Petersen.

The wide-ranging survey shows that travellers' opinions are polarised when it comes to selecting their favourite airlines. British Airways is the world's favourite followed by American Airlines and Virgin Atlantic.

Yet American is also one of the three least favourite airlines, while British Airways is the least favourite airline among UK travellers.

The survey also shows that recent natural disasters, such as last year's boxing day tsunami which devastated parts of South East Asia and Hurricane Katrina, which destroyed the popular destination of New Orleans, have had an impact on travellers' choice of holiday destination.

Eighty-five per cent of survey respondents say hurricanes, tsunamis and earthquakes are now a consideration when choosing where to go on holiday; with 65 per cent saying it was not a consideration prior to the last year.