The latest statistics from Hitwise, the online competitive intelligence service, reveals that UK consumers are increasingly searching for Disneyland Paris and Lanzarote as they prepare for the Easter long-weekend.

The most searched for overseas destination for the week ending 17th March is “disneyland paris” with searches increasing 45% from the same period last year to place it in the number one position. Tenerife, Cyprus, New York, France and Amsterdam are still among the hot spots for Brits abroad, however this Easter we see a new arrival with searches for “cheap flights to lanzarote” doubling year-on-year, making it the tenth most popular overseas destination for Easter.

Top local destinations in Britain

As we enter the first week of spring, Hitwise UK Search IntelligenceTM data reveals that “alton towers” is the most searched-for destination for Britons looking to stay closer to home during Easter, ahead of similar day attractions such as “thorpe park” and “legoland” which ranked third and fifth respectively in the Top 20 British destination searches for the week ending 17th March 2007.

Interest still remains high for perennial favourites “centerparcs” and “butlins”, with five of the Top 20 search terms dedicated to different spellings of the word Centerparcs, however searches for “blackpool pleasure beach” increased 15% year-on-year and searches for “isle of wight” were up 17% - placing it for the first time amongst the top British Easter destinations.

Hitwise UK Top 20 Searches for overseas destinations, week ending 17 March 2007

Top 20 Overseas Destinations

1. disneyland paris



2. cheap flights to tenerife



3. flights to tenerife



4. flights to cyprus



5. cheap flights to malaga



6. amsterdam



7. ferries to france



8. new york hotels



9. carhire cyprus



10. cheap flights to lanzarote



11. cheap flights to new york



12. madeira



13. flights to australia



14. ferries to ireland



15. cheap flights to cyprus



16. flights to canada



17. edinburgh



18. disneyland



19. cyprus holidays



20. flights to new york

Hitwise UK Top 20 Searches for British destinations, week ending 17 March 2007

Top 20 British Destinations

1. alton towers



2. butlins



3. thorpe park



4. centre parcs



5. legoland



6. centre parks



7. center parcs



8. longleat



9. centerparcs



10. blackpool pleasure beach



11. blackpool



12. london



13. lake district



14. centreparcs



15. york hotels



16. isle of wight



17. warwick castle



18. legoland windsor



19. cadbury world



20. jersey