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Christmas in UAE: Abu Dhabi, Dubai among top 3 most searched winter destinations in UK
As temperatures drop and rains take over the UK towards the end of the year, those who can tend to look towards warmer countries where they can spend the holidays
Abu Dhabi and Dubai are in the top 5 destinations most in demand for people from the UK looking to escape the cold, windy and rainy weather for the holiday season.
As temperatures drop and rains take over the UK towards the end of the year, those who can tend to look towards other countries where they can spend the time around Christmas and New Year. While some people prefer snowy countries for a White Christmas, most travellers seek warmer temperatures for their holidays.
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Travelbag, a UK travel and booking website specialising in long-haul trips, has analysed their internal booking data from 2024, and Google search volume data for the past three months to determine:
The most popular winter destinations for UK travellers last year
The most in-demand winter destinations for UK travellers this year
Most popular winter destinations in 2024
Dubai came in at the fifth spot in terms of percentage increase in bookings (20 per cent) in 2024, with New Zealand taking the top spot at 105 per cent. The second, third and fourth places were taken by Costa Rica, Australia and Thailand respectively, showing a clear preference among UK travellers for warmer climes and temperate weather. All the destinations on the list also feature beautiful and famous coastlines — perfect for Christmas on the beach.
Most in-demand winter destinations in 2025
Google search rankings from the last three months show Abu Dhabi and Dubai in the top three destinations that UK travellers are looking up for winter travel, with the UAE Capital taking the top spot on the list.
The rankings, which go by percentage increase in search volume, show a 91 per cent increase in people searching for 'Christmas in Abu Dhabi', followed by Vietnam (86 per cent), Dubai (82 per cent), Mauritius (56 per cent) and Costa Rica (55 per cent).
UK-UAE flights
In an earlier study, the UAE has emerged as the second popular winter sun destination for British travellers in aviation terms, with more than 1,000 flights, according to global aviation data provider OAG.
It was also found that Dubai International (DXB) will receive 776 flights from UK between December 20 to January 4.
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