Jamaica leads Thomson holiday searches

Supporters celebrate at Jamaica House during the Olympics

Holiday searches to Jamaica have been the most popular as Brits look to flock to the homeland of Usain Bolt, Thomson and First Choice have said.

The travel companies said they saw a spike in searches during the track  events, with nearly 20,000 searching for a holiday to the Caribbean island during the 100m final. Around 21, 570 also looked up the destination during the closing ceremony. Searches to the destination were up 32% on 29 July in year-on-year figures.

Thomson and First Choice now expect the island to receive more British visitors in the coming year. Steve Perridge, general manager of late trading also said its searches showed how the public are using mobiles or tablets to look at holidays while watching television.

“With all the hype surrounding the Olympics, we tipped Jamaica to be a very popular place to visit this year, but we didn’t realise to what extent. Even in the current climate, throughout July we have seen strong sales to the country, which can certainly be credited to the ‘Bolt-effect,” he added.

Yesterday Travel Daily UK reported that Birmingham is also getting in on the Bolt action after he praised the city for its hospitality during the games. Read more about its #bigupbirmingham campaign here 

By Amanda Greenwood, 16 August 2012, Thursday 2:37 PM