Vayama Shares 2012 International Travel Trends

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Dec. 28, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- As 2013 draws near, Vayama (www.vayama.com), a leading online travel agency uniquely focused on international travel shared details today on where and how people were traveling in 2012 compared to 2011, as well as the top international cities booked for the week of Christmas and New Years.

A side-by-side comparison of 2011 and 2012 travel data, including tickets sold and routes traveled, shows a slight shift in booking trends. Vayama's data showed that there was a slight increase in people booking premium classes when traveling internationally this year than in 2011. A look at the top 10 destinations from this year and last showed that London held its position as the number one city in terms of bookings among Vayama customers in 2012. Vayama's data also showed popularity in bookings during 2012 to Asian cities like Hong Kong, Shanghai, Thailand and Tokyo. However, Mexico City and Zurich both fell out of the top 20 this year.

Based on booked international ticket volume during the week of Christmas and New Years, Vayama reports that the majority of booked travel is to warmer climates, with the exception of a few select European cities. Destinations like Costa Rica, Mexico, Hong Kong, Delhi and Thailand are attractive to travelers seeking an international destination with minimal rain and higher temperatures than most U.S. cities that are enduring a winter chill.

The top 10 destinations booked from U.S. departing cities for the week of Christmas are:

1. London, United Kingdom
2. Manila, Philippines
3. Bangkok, Thailand
4. Mumbai, India
5. San Jose, Costa Rica
6. Delhi, India
7. Paris, France
8. Hong Kong, China
9. Beijing, China
10. Cancun, Mexico

Similarly, the top 10 destinations booked from U.S. departing cities on December 30 are:

1. Manila, Philippines
2. Mumbai, India
3. Delhi, India
4. Chennai, India
5. Stuttgart, Germany
6. Hong Kong, China
7. Tokyo, Japan
8. Medellin, Colombia
9. Dakar, Senegal
10. Guangzhou, China

"We are always interested to see the year's data and compare the booking patterns with previous years," says Joan Ioannou, Brand Marketing Director for Vayama.com. "This information not only lets us easily recap the year's biggest travel trends for the public, but it allows us to better gauge popular booking habits and set an expectation for the year to come. Monitoring and analyzing these trends gives us the insight to better accommodate popular destinations, and work to provide people the best international travel experience in the New Year."

For more information about Vayama.com, visit www.vayama.com and for additional 2012 travel trends, visit the Vayama blog.

About Vayama
Vayama.com is an online travel agency uniquely focused on international travel. Since 2007, the company has been committed to providing travelers with the most comprehensive set of airlines, fares and flights, allowing people to experience popular, well-traveled destinations as well as some of the most remote corners of the world. By working with a vast network of trusted global partners, Vayama taps published and negotiated fares to put the very best international content all in one place. Travelers who visit Vayama.com can browse thousands of hotels and book rooms at the lowest prices available, as well as rent cars all over the world. For more information about Vayama, visit www.vayama.com.

About Travix
Travix International B.V., one of the leading global and the largest Dutch online travel agency, manages an extensive portfolio of travel-focused websites operating under the brand names CheapTickets, BudgetAir, Easytobook, Vayama, Vliegwinkel and Flugladen. Easytobook is specialist in online worldwide hotel reservations. The other brands provide both search and book capability for flight combinations worldwide on both scheduled and low cost airlines. In addition, these sites offer attractive pricing for hotels, car rentals, rail travel and holiday packages. Travix operates its six brands globally, employs almost 700 persons, with combined sales in excess of US$ 2 billion. Travix is part of BCD Holdings N.V. For more information: www.travix-international.com.

About BCD Holdings
BCD Holdings N.V. is a market leader in the travel industry. The Dutch, privately owned company was founded in 1975 by John Fentener van Vlissingen and consists of BCD Travel (global corporate travel management), Travix (online travel: CheapTickets, Vliegwinkel, BudgetAir and Vayama), Park 'N Fly (off-airport parking), TRX (travel transaction processing and data integration), Airtrade (consolidating and fulfillment), VakantieXperts (leisure) and Parkmobile International (mobile parking and traffic applications). BCD Holdings employs over 12,000 people and operates in more than 95 countries with total sales, including franchising, of US$ 22.1 billion. For more information, visit www.bcd-nv.com.

SOURCE Vayama.com