The climate may be icy in more ways than one, but that is not stopping Brits booking annual getaways.

Opodo.co.uk has compared this summer’s hotspots with last, and has found holidaymakers are keen to get as far away from the doom and gloom as possible.

Year-on-year southern hemisphere destinations are up, whereas last year we were flocking to the US. And city breaks are suffering, except outside the eurozone.

Caroline Noble, country director at Opodo UK, says the booking patterns indicate holidaymakers are taking one longer holiday and fewer short breaks as the value of the pound makes European and US city breaks less attractive options.

“Bookings to Africa, Asia and the South Pacific have dramatically increased for summer 2009 whereas European cities are struggling, with Paris, Athens and Florence all reporting negative growth year-on-year,” she explains.

“We are also noticing that our customers are booking short-haul much later this year with the economic uncertainty, so we expect to see bookings increase as they book short holidays later in the year to complement the longer one they have already booked for further afield.”

Traditional city slicker hot spots New York and Las Vegas are down this year, whereas Florida is making a comeback as customers look for safety and security in difficult times.

It would also seem the Obama Effect has reached the UK – with flights to Washington up 68 per cent.

Top 10 destinations with the biggest growth this year:

• Melbourne – Australia (up 400 per cent)
• Singapore – (up 219 per cent)
• Delhi – India (up 165 per cent)
• Brisbane – Australia (up 115 per cent)
• Orlando – USA (up 90 per cent)
• Sydney – Australia (up 81 per cent)
• Washington – USA (up 68 per cent)
• Johannesburg – South Africa (up 56 per cent)
• Hong Kong (up 43 per cent)
• Kuala Lumpur – Malaysia (41 per cent)

Chris O’Toole