A new study has revealed that Rome is the most in demand location for Brits to travel to.
According to the study by Dubai Tours and Tickets In 2024 there were an average of 50,570 searches for flights to Rome every month from the UK, making it the most searched for location by Brits.
Italian getaways in particular seem to be intriguing British travelers, with three of the country’s cities making up the top five and four in the top ten.
Milan, Venice and Florence round out the list of the most searched for cities, with just under 80k searches per month on google for flights to these hotspots.
The study, conducted by the online guide, analyzed search data on google for 140 cities over the past year.
Magdalena Petrusic from Dubai Tours & Tickets who conducted the study commented that: “It’s interesting to note how all of these destinations are located in Europe, and how it shows Brits are happy with not leaving the continent.”
In addition to the Italian cities Lisbon, Berlin, Paris, Rhodes, Athens and Nice help round out the top 10.
The highest ranking non European destination was Orlando, which was the 15th most searched country by Brits this year, with Dubai coming in at 31st on the list.
Petrusic, who led the study, added that she thought “The power of social media has exposed Brits to some destinations they would never have thought of.”
And it seems the feeling is mutual with research by Visit Britain, Britain’s tourist board, finding that 97 percent of departing Italian visitors are ‘Likely,’ or ‘Extremely Likely,’ to recommend a visit to Britain ranking it 4th (out of 60) nations to visit.
Rome’s popularity among British tourists comes as tourists were warned about huge upgrades being made across the city for the remainder of 2024.
Many of the Eternal City’s iconic sights are expected to be covered in scaffolding for large portions of the rest of 2024, as the City prepares for the Roman Catholic Holy Year in 2025 and an expected 32 million visitors to the city’s religious sites, such as Vatican City and St. Peter’s Basilica.
There have also been growing concerns with increased numbers of rats, snakes and household pests in the city. With prominent Rome zoologist Andrea Lunerti referring to the city as “a proper jungle.”
The combination of a persistent rubbish problem and high winter temperatures in the city are thought to be causes for the increased presence of the unwanted animals.
But, not to be deterred, it appears that British tourists are more interested than ever in exploring the Italian capital.