These are the most popular travel destinations of 2017 - so far

We all know Brits love to book a holiday in January...
Jess Commons|Refinery2922 February 2017

As we all know, the most popular time to book holidays is in January. It makes sense - you're depressed, it's cold, the year's looming ahead of you like a big, bleak, never-ending cloud of doom... Obviously you want something to look forward to.

If you didn't get organised enough to book a holiday in January though (hello) don't worry - you may actually have the upper hand. See, rather than having to do all the research about where the best places to go this year are, all you need to do is copy those people who were organised January bookers and figure the rest out later.

So, where have the Hermione Grangers of the travelling club been looking to go this year? Well, according to new trend report from travel company Kuoni, some of the big destinations from last year are still going strong (Sri Lanka), new flight routes have opened up new destinations and even politics are playing a part in where we want to head on our hols (a trip to Canada involves a personal visit with Justin Trudeau, right?).

Greece

When it comes to short-haul holidays, Greece seems to be the big winner of 2017 with Kuoni reporting a 30 per cent rise in bookings from last year - despite the shoddy state of the pound. I mean, you could do worse - the blue Aegean sea, the mercifully car-free island of Hydra, the fancy-pants luxury of Santorini... Sign us up.

Croatia

Croatian currency the Kuna is offering a rather delightful exchange rate which is helping to lure travellers in. The good thing is, there's something in Croatia for everyone - from historical sightseeing to backpacking partying to remote beaches - you'll be able to keep everyone happy.

Costa Rica

If you're looking to go further afield, Costa Rica (with help from a new direct flight from Gatwick) has seen bookings rise a silly 310 per cent. Although, with a nice mix of rainforest and beach, rugged terrain for hiking and waves for surfing, it's easy to see why people can't wait to get there.

Hotels opening in 2017 in pictures

1/14

Canada

Canada finds itself in the top 20 for the first time this year which is probably something to do with their rather dreamy Prime Minister and his wonderfully liberal approach to welcoming people to enter his magnificent country. Toronto is the big city that everyone loves but spare a thought too for Montreal, the half-French speaking capital of Quebec and also Vancouver, the laid back, super-diverse hipster hub which isn't a world away from it's equally cool American neighbours, Seattle and Portland.

South Africa

After the turmoil with the South African Rand in recent times (I mean, you thought the Pound was having a nightmare), people are looking to South Africa for a cheaper-than-usual long haul holiday - it's moved up three places on the list to number 15.

Photo: Via @visitsouthafrica

Full List

1. Maldives

2. Mauritius

3. Sri Lanka

4. Thailand

5. USA

6. Indonesia

7. Italy

8. Antigua

9. Barbados

10. Malaysia

11. India

12. St. Lucia

13. Vietnam

14. Mexico

15. South Africa

16. Cuba

17. UAE

18. Australia

19. Canada

20. New Zealand

Photo: Via @visitmaldives

Read more from Refinery29:

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in