Lisbon is the new New York - and not because the shopping is better

Published on Tuesday 24 August 2010 15:31

SCOTS planning city breaks should forget established destinations such as New York and look to less well-known alternatives such as Lisbon instead, according to a survey released today.

New York's status as the destination of choice for holidaymakers heading for big name boutiques on Fifth Avenue, hunting out cheap Levis or iPods, or going on Sex and the City tours appears to be coming to an end.

In a ranking of 20 cities worldwide based on a range of priorities including value for money and cost of accommodation, travellers placed the Big Apple at a lowly 17. The Portuguese capital came out top.

Tourism experts cited the eight-hour flight to New York, invasive security checks and the current lack of cash for conspicuous consumption for the city's loss of allure.

By contrast Lisbon, a two-hour flight away, with its year-long festivals, art galleries and newly opened Design and Fashion Museum (Mude), is seen as an "undiscovered" destination with some of the cheapest everyday living costs.

Research for Kelkoo, the online shopping comparison site, showed that affordability was the key factor, followed by security, weather and good food for 2,300 adults surveyed by YouGov.

Bruce Fair, managing director of Kelkoo UK, said: "Sexy cities such as New York will always appeal to the UK traveller. However, with the economic landscape still uncertain, consumers are reluctant to dig deeper into their pockets to pay for long-haul flights for short weekend breaks. Instead, many travellers may now be focusing on European cities such as Lisbon for that perfect city escape.

"While Lisbon may not be renowned for the romance of Paris or the glamour of New York, it appears to fit the bill most closely when it comes to delivering against the criteria that matter most to today's holidaymakers - value for money, great climate and security."

Professor Paul Freathy of Stirling University's Institute of Retail Studies said people working increasingly long hours wanted to reach their city break destinations as quickly as possible.

He said: "One of the main factors why a city like Lisbon rises up the rankings so suddenly is accessibility. From a city-break point of view, operators are also trying to identify somewhere relatively unexplored.

"Lisbon is a short-haul flight and easy to get to and you don't spend almost the whole day travelling and suffering from jet lag as you would with New York. That's before you factor in all the stress of getting through customs in the States with long queues, intrusive questions and having your fingerprints taken."

Prof Freathy added: "The global recession has also badly hit (New York's] main marketing campaign as the city for designer weekend shopping breaks.

"Its been positioned as the place to buy designer clothes but now one of its main raisons d'tre such as Sex and the City-style shopping sprees and conspicuous consumption are apparently not the done thing. Even those with money are not so keen to display the designer labels as they did before."