PALMA
SPAIN has proved to be the most popular destination for over half (54%) of Britons taking a car hire holiday in 2010, with a total of three Spanish destinations listed in the top ten compiled by leading car hire comparison site,carhiremarket.com.
Palma has held onto its number one position with over a third of car hire bookings in 2010 going to the capital. Palma even managed an increase of 8%, proving the city favoured for holidays by Spanish royalty is more than good enough for the British.
Alicante, the second largest city in the Valencia region enjoyed a surge in car rental bookings in 2010 moving up to third place from sixth in 2009 and is now the fastest growing tourist destination in Spain. Spanish destination Malaga, birth place of Picasso also held onto its position at number five.
Long haul fly-drive destination, Sanford in Florida remained second in the 2010 league, unlike the neighbouring city of Orlando, which has been bumped from third position to seventh place in just one year.
RANKING
The birthplace of Aphrodite, Paphos in Cyprus kept its fourth position in the ranking while Portuguese favourite, Faro moved up two positions from eighth to number six proving its continued popularity with sun seekers.
Despite its dramatic contrast of sea and the Guajara Mountain with an elevation of over 2700 meters, the city of Granadilla de Abona, south of Tenerife fell one spot from seventh to eight position.
2010 spelt good news for two newcomers to the league as well, with Ajaccio; the birthplace of Napoleon Bonaparte and the capital of Corsica establishing itself in ninth position; followed by Heraklion, capital of the largest Greek island of Crete arriving in at number ten.
The two main losers in the 2010 league were the Las Palmas in Gran Canarias and the romantic Moroccan coastal destination of Casablanca, both places failed to make it into the league this year dropping out of their 2009 positions of ninth and tenth respectively.