Each year British Airways compiles a long-haul league table of the places it considers the top choices for UK holidaymakers for the following year. Sporting events, entertainment, activities and popular culture influence the ratings, as do factors such as whether somewhere is a great escape or just the hippest place to be seen.
“Cape Town is always popular between November and March, but with the World Cup, we expect it to be a top destination pretty much year-round,” says Sue Botes, BA’s SA commercial manager. She says many World Cup fans are likely to base themselves in Cape Town and travel to games around the country. BA will operate daily B747-400 services to Cape Town and 19 a week during the World Cup, the most it has ever operated to South Africa during the normally low-demand winter season. It is currently assessing if it will need additional capacity. Other destinations on BA’s top 10 list for 2010 are: Istanbul, Las Vegas, Vancouver, Punta Cana (Caribbean), Dubrovnik, New York, Stockholm, the Maldives and Delhi.
