Thailand ranks one of the most popular destinations for Brits

The study suggests that Vietnam's tourism will rise further thanks to the launch of the first direct flight by Vietnam Airlines to and from London Gatwick to Ho Chi Minh City in December.

Despite a number of undesirable factors including political unrest and floods in recent years, Thailand's capital Bangkok was also the most popular Asian city for Brits, with the Thai capital rising one position up to eighth place compared to 2010. In the country ranking, Thailand rose by one position to 13th.

The findings are part of its Travel Trends 2012 report, which is based on user flight searches. Coming in second is the United States, followed by the United Kingdom, Italy and France.

For top-searched-for cities and resorts from the UK in which Bangkok was ranked eighth, the top five are Malaga, Alicante, Tenerife, New York and Palma.

Over in Asia, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Pakistan top the charts in terms of growth in interest, followed by the Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore and Cambodia.