'Mett' set to kick Med off the No1 spot

A WEAK pound and Scottish travellers' growing taste for more adventurous destinations are threatening to knock the Mediterranean off the number one holiday spot by the end of next year.

In the biggest change in brochure bookings since the emergence of package holidays in the 1970s, the likes of Spain's Costa del Sol and Portugal's Algarve are on the verge of being supplanted by "the Mett" destinations - named after Morocco, Egypt, Tunisia and Turkey.

Research by the Co-op Travel group has shown that Mediterranean resorts have experienced a cumulative fall in bookings of 11.6 per cent compared to the Mett's increase of 23.4 per cent.

Professor John Lennon, tourism expert at Glasgow Caledonian University, said: "I would fully expect to see Turkey, Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia to be doing well. I do think people react to media headlines about holiday prices."

Trevor Davis, director of retail distribution at The Co-operative Travel, said: "If these trends continue, it will represent the biggest change in bookings patterns since the boom of the package holiday in the 1970s."

The Co-operative Travel's prediction for the top ten holiday destinations for UK travellers in 2011-12:

1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Turkey

2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Balearic Islands

3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Greece

4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Florida

5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cyprus

6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Canary Islands

7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mainland Spain

8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Egypt

9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Caribbean

10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Mexico