• Mallorca, Santorini, Malta, Crete, and Sicily are among the most visited islands globally in 2021 so far

Prague/Brno, 29 July 2021 – Dream beaches, picturesque villages, unique cuisine, and a leisurely pace of life make islands among the most coveted vacation destinations. In the second summer marked by the pandemic, their popularity has only increased: among the 100 most booked destinations in 2021, islands represent around 20% of the total, an increase of 6% compared to 2020. As it did in 2018, 2019, and 2020, Palma de Mallorca heads the international ranking for the summer season in 2021, according to booking data from Kiwi.com, the leading company in online travel technology.

According to Kiwi.com data, Mallorca’s most frequent visitors in 2021 were Germans, Czechs, Spanish, English, and French. The number of Czech visitors to Mallorca increased by 45% compared to pre-pandemic levels in 2019. Mallorca has been the most popular island among Czechs since 2019, replacing the former leader Malta. The average stay in Palma de Mallorca this summer is four to six days, with an average transport cost of around 215 euros and a booking window of between three weeks and two months.

“Spain and its islands were greatly in demand among international and Czech travelers before the pandemic hit. But with the global travel situation becoming so complicated over the last two years, their popularity has grown even greater. Mallorca was the third most booked destination for Czech travelers on Kiwi.com last year, outperforming other favorite spots such as Paris, Amsterdam or Rome,” said Eliška Řezníček Dočkalová, Director of Customer Experience at Kiwi.com.

“At Kiwi.com we also saw the Spanish Balearic and Canary islands welcoming 30% more tourists from the Czech Republic than before the pandemic in 2019. After Palma de Mallorca, most bookings to Spanish island destinations were made to Tenerife, Ibiza, Las Palmas, and Fuerteventura,” she added.

Yet Spanish islands were not the only destinations to benefit from the pandemic. Popular Greek and Italian islands have also become even more in demand among Czechs. For example, the number of Czech visitors to Sicily doubled in comparison with 2019, with Czechs arriving on the island through Trapani, Catania, and Palermo. Demand for Cyprus grew more than for any other Mediterranean island; it was the third most popular in 2021, while in previous years it didn’t even make it to the top 40. The most popular Greek islands were Corfu, Rhodes, Crete, Zakynthos, and Santorini. Greece saw enormous growth in tourism from the Czech Republic, with three times more Czechs visiting the islands in 2021 than in 2019. Growth in travel to Greece was driven partly by changes in the ways in which people traveled during the pandemic.

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About Kiwi.com

Kiwi.com is a leading travel tech company founded in 2012. Its proprietary algorithm – Virtual Interlining – allows users to build unique itineraries to combine flights and ground transportation from more than 800 carriers and connects many that do not have commercial agreements. Kiwi.com powers more than 100 million searches every day and employs 2,000 people worldwide.

Kiwi.com Media Contacts

Carol Barnes, Head of Global Communications, Kiwi.com
[email protected]