Maldives a ‘top 10’ BA destination for 2011

Wednesday, 15 December 2010 00:01 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The Maldives made it to the ‘top 10’ list of the most sought-after travel destinations for 2011 by customers of British Airways.

BA announced that the US, Caribbean and Indian Ocean all feature heavily in its top 10 destinations for 2011 but that the pride of place goes to North African destination, Marrakech followed by San Diego, New York, St. Kitts & Nevis, Puerto Rico, Maldives, Japan, Las Vegas, Mauritius and St. Lucia. BA’s top 10 destinations for 2011 also includes the airline’s new routes, with services to Haneda (Tokyo) starting on February 19, Marrakech beginning on 27 March, Puerto Rico on 28 March, and flights to San Diego on 1 June, 2011.

“The response we’ve had to the launch of routes like the Maldives, Las Vegas and Marrakech has been incredible. We’ve seen destinations in the Caribbean and Indian Ocean becoming even more popular with leisure travellers looking for sun and relaxation. Those after 24-hour cities are heading towards New York, Las Vegas and Japan,” Willie Walsh, British Airways’ CEO, told PRNewswire.

“Tourism and leisure travel is a crucial focus for us, so growing our holidays business is a major part of our business plan. We’ve already made great progress thanks to the launch of our Dynamic Packaging capability on ba.com, which enables customers to book flights and hotels together and realise substantial savings. Revenue this year is up 55 per cent and there remains a huge opportunity for future growth.”

After a difficult few years BA is geared into the New Year in profit again and have a very different outlook than a year ago, thanks to the firm netting a 55 per cent increase in revenue due to the launch of the new routes to the Maldives, Marrakech and Las Vegas.