'Massive surge' in long-haul holidays

There has been a "massive surge" in holiday bookings to long-haul destinations such as the Maldives, Kenya and Thailand for summer 2007 holidays.

That is according to travel website Lastminute.com, which finds Brits are increasingly going for holidays to far-flung, romantic locations this summer.

Holidays to the Maldives are seeing 34 per cent more bookings than the same time last year, with package holidays to the Thai beach resort of Phuket also very popular, and Kenya "one of the long-haul best sellers" this summer.

Lastminute explained the rise in popularity for these long-haul destinations is down to good value four and five star package holidays now being available.

The website finds New York, San Francisco and Las Vegas city breaks have seen a 50 per cent surge in bookings, as British holidaymakers look to take advantage of the pound to dollar exchange rate.

Among the top emerging destinations are the Chinese cities of Beijing and Shanghai, Cape Verde, and the eastern European countries Latvia, Slovenia, Lithuania and Poland.

Summer holidays to Turkey have also seen renewed interest in 2007, with a 33 per cent increase seeing the destination back in the website's top five.