Cyprus tops honeymoon destinations of 2010

Ever since the news of royal engagement hogged lime light, travel industry worldwide has woken-up to the concept of romantic tourism. While tour operators in Kenya, where Prince William proposed to his girlfriend, have already started selling off “Romantic Tour Packages”, many other nations may follow the trend to market them as perfect romantic destinations.

According to a study conducted recently, the coastal city of Paphos on Cyprus Island in the Mediterranean has topped the list of most preferred honeymoon destinations this year.

The study, which involved over thousand newly-wed couples, reveals that in 2010 most of the couples chose to honeymoon at Cyprus, the website that conducted the study concluded.

Travel experts see the results positive for it would mean increase in arrivals.

“The results of the study are particularly interesting, as none of the couples questioned chose to go to Paris, and only 2 of the 1,078 couples questioned travelled to Venice for their honeymoon. Both of these destinations have long been a favorite destination for romantic getaways and these new figures reveal that we could just see more couples travel to Cyprus for their honeymoon next year, Ian Raine of online holiday firm ulookubook.com, which conducted the study, was quoted as saying in media.

Cyprus has beaten traditional honeymoon places like Paris or Venice, in terms of less expensive honeymoon spot. Other destinations chosen by honeymooners include Dominican Republic, Cape Verde in Africa, New York and Sharm el Sheikh among others.

Favorable weather in Cyprus has favored tourism on the island for years. Also known as the “Island of Love” Cyprus makes for an ideal honeymoon spot not just for couples, but also attracts tourists from diverse cultures.