Britain’s Travel Association, formerly known as the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA), recently released its ‘top 23 for 23’ list, detailing the 23 most popular destinations people say they plan to visit this year, with Cyprus featuring among the top ten countries included in this list.

“Staying closer to home seems to be the preference for most people, with a large proportion of the list being short to mid-haul destinations such as Spain, Turkey and the UAE, but destinations including the USA, Mexico, Thailand and Australia continue to have their draw as long-haul favourites,” the association said.

According to the report, Cyprus is the tenth most popular destination for British holidaymakers for 2023.

Neighbouring countries Greece and Turkey are in fifth and ninth place respectively, while Spain, the United States, and France took the top three spots.

Cyprus’ placement among British holidaymakers puts it ahead of fellow Mediterranean country Egypt, which is in 21st place, as well as Austria, Thailand, Croatia, Norway, Iceland and Belgium.

The list was released alongside a report on Saturday, January 7, which the association describes as a bumper day for holiday bookings, with would-be holidaymakers both hitting the high street and going online to book their holidays early in order to avoid paying higher prices down the line.

The association explained that the first Saturday after the Christmas and New Year break is dubbed ‘Sunshine Saturday’ by the UK travel industry, because it is usually the most popular day of the year to book a foreign trip.