Hotels.com reports rise in European nanobreaks

Hotels.com has reported an increase in the number of British travellers enjoying European 'nanobreaks', as holidaymakers plot last minute escapes from the British weather.

In the wake of one of the wettest Julys on record, leading holiday booking site, Hotels.com, has seen a significant rise in searches for last minute short breaks, also known as nanobreaks, to many popular European destinations as cash-strapped British holidaymakers escape for some summer sun.

Paris tops the list of favourite foreign nanobreak locations for Brits, with searches up 50% year-on-year, followed by Nice (up 40%), with Berlin (25%), Rome (20%), Dublin (15%) and Valencia (10%) following close behind.*

The rise in European nanobreaks coincides with a Social Media competition currently being run by Hotels.com that simply asks people to tag their travel-related Twitter posts #nanobreak.

Entries can also be submitted by tagging Flickr pictures or YouTube videos, and the best entry, as judged by a Hotels.com panel, will win an extended nanobreak to Rio de Janeiro in Brazil for two, courtesy of TAP Portugal and the Caesar Park Ipanema hotel. Three runners up will each receive a £200 Hotels.com voucher.

The competition, which is open to UK residents over 18, has been created to help encourage participants to take a holiday, however short, even in the current hard times.

Alison Couper, Director of Communications at Hotels.com said: "It is great to see the British holiday spirit alive and well despite the unexpected rain this summer and we are really enjoying reading people's nanobreak musings on Twitter."

-ENDS-

Notes to Editors:
* Based on searches on Hotels.com for one-night stays in July 2009 compared to July 2008.

About Hotels.com
As part of the Expedia group which operates in all major markets, Hotels.com offers more than 100,000 quality hotels, B&Bs and serviced apartments worldwide including London hotels, New York hotels, Edinburgh hotels and hotels in Dublin. If a customer can find the same deal for less on a prepaid hotel, Hotels.com will match it. Hotels.com benefits from one of the largest hotel contracting teams in the industry negotiating the best rates for its customers, plus there are 1.3m reviews from users who have actually stayed in the hotels to ensure customers make an informed choice when booking. Hotels.com won the Gold Award for best hotel booking site in Webuser magazine in February 2009.

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