Maastricht or Aberdeen? The unlikely destinations tipped for a tourism boom

Move aside, Paris and Venice. It’s time to consider Aberdeen or Maastricht for your next city break.

At least, that’s according to new data revealed by Airbnb in its top trending destinations for 2020 report.

Using internal data, the accommodation booking site has revealed which destinations are seeing the biggest year-on-year rise in inquiries – and some of the results are surprising.

The rise of some of the destinations is self-explanatory, like Tokyo (+103 per cent), which has been hosting Rugby World Cup matches and has the Olympics next year, although others like Romania (+298 per cent) and Vanuatu (+140 per cent) are harder to understand.

Here we take a look at some of the more surprising destinations that are muscling their way onto the tourist map, from Bilbao to Kerala, via Luxembourg.

Maastricht, Netherlands (+55 per cent)

Pipping other ‘treaty’ favourites like Versailles onto the list is the Dutch city of Maastricht. We may associate it with the agreement struck here to turn the European Community into the European Union back in 1992, but there is more to this university town than its political heritage. The genteel old quarter has a lively bar scene, antique shops and a number of fine restaurants.

Best of all you can get there by train faster than it takes to get from London to Edinburgh – just 3 hours 57 minutes from London with changes in Brussels and Liège. Next year, the city hosts the TEFAF 2020 – one of the world’s largest art fairs.

Kerala, India (+95 per cent)

Backwaters, tea plantations and tiger reserves – Kerala has been on the independent backpacker trail for some time now. Clearly they have now upgraded from hostels to private rooms, as the region has seen bookings almost double in the last year. A trip on a kettuvallam (houseboat) is essential and don’t miss Alappuzha, the most popular and buzzy town in the area – home to the spectacular Nehru Trophy snake-boat race every August.

You can check out the best hotels in Kerala here, from the sprawling 300-year-old Old Harbour Hotel to Purity, which is about as remote, serene and close to nature as luxury resorts get.

Aberdeen, Scotland (+119 per cent)

“It’s a handsome city, with lovely public gardens, but it’s also slightly forbidding, without the charm of Edinburgh or the rich cultural life of Glasgow,” said Telegraph Travel’s Joanna Symons in an article back in 2015.

Well the travelling public appears to be beguiled. The granite city has seen an impressive 119 per cent rise in bookings year-on-year for its medieval lanes and narrow streets. Come during whale watching season (end of March to end of September) and head up to Torry Battery and Girdleness to view bottlenose dolphins, harbour porpoises and minke whales.

Cape Canaveral, Florida (+136 per cent)

It has been a good year for Airbnb bookings in the port that Telegraph writers Simon and Susan Veness describe as a “perfect holiday base.”

“When you want all the excitement of Orlando’s theme parks and attractions with the convenience of a cruise port nearby, Port Canaveral is the perfect choice, just a 50-minute drive from Disney and Co. It is also the home of Disney Cruise Line and a gateway to the blissful Bahamas,” they say.

The port’s popularity will likely continue into next year. In July 2020, the port will be poised for the international stage as the launch site NASA’s Mars 2020 Exploration Program. You can see the full port guide here, with recommendations on the best hotels, what to see and do, and how to get around.

Vanuatu (+140 per cent)

Next year the South Pacific nation of Vanuatu celebrates 30 years of independence. It will also celebrate another prosperous year for Airbnb bookings.

Why go? This is the island with a tribe that worships Prince Philip (The Prince Philip Movement), a volcano (Mount Yasur) that you can peer inside, and a population that can proudly call itself the fourth happiest in the world, according to the Happy Planet Index.

More weird and wonderful facts about Vanuatu can be found here.

Luxembourg (+167 per cent)

From one of the happiest, to one of the unhappiest. Luxembourg came second-bottom of the Happy Planet Index despite being the country with the second highest per capita GDP in the world (Chad is said to be the least happy).

“Some of Luxembourg City’s visual appeal can be pinned to its geography,” says Telegraph Travel’s Chris Leadbeater. “Remarkably for a place which is often dismissed as a star pupil of flat, faceless European bureaucracy, the duchy’s capital occupies a high bluff above not one but two rivers – the Pétrusse and the Alzette. Together, these waterways are responsible for a gorge, up to 230ft (70m) deep in sections, which has seen the city develop on several levels.”

In the city you’ll also find fantastic contemporary art at MUDAM (Musée d’Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean), a restaurant with the world’s longest wine list (Restaurant Chiggeri: 1,746 different labels and counting), and a cathedral with a famous name (Notre Dame, although it’s not quite as spectacular as its French namesake).

Xi’an, China (+255 per cent)

The capital of Shaanxi Province in northwest China has a rich history and a profound cultural atmosphere. The number one tourist attraction is, of course, the Terracotta Warriors, but there are also some peaceful refuges in the city.

Our destination expert Michelle Jana Chan says: “My favourite hideaway is the grounds of the Small Wild Goose Pagoda, lying just outside the City Walls. Visited early in the day, it remains one of Xi’an’s quieter tourist attractions. In the afternoon, head to local favourite Lianhu Park downtown where the teahouse overlooks a pond dense with pink and white lotus flowers.”

There are reasons to book for 2020: the ancient city will soon launch a tourism program including 30 nighttime tours through the city, visiting night markets and evening performances.

Romania (+298 per cent)

Romania has tripled in popularity on Airbnb. Why? It’s hard to say, although it might be because it is home to the world’s heaviest building – the Palace of the Parliament in Bucharest is a staggering 240 metres long, 270 metres wide and 86 metres high. Or perhaps because it ishome to what is arguably the world’s most beautiful road – the Transfagarasan Highway.

Or maybe, just maybe, it’s because you can see Europe’s largest mammal here. Tipping the scales at 1,400lbs, the European bison was nearly hunted to extinction, but in recent years has been reintroduced to several Eastern European countries, including Romania. The country also scores high on ‘ecosystem vitality’ – 15th globally, according to the 2018 Environmental Performance Index.

Bilbao, Spain (+402 per cent)

“Bilbao is practically synonymous with Frank Gehry’s impressive Guggenheim museum,” says our expert Marti Buckley. “But once you’ve seen it (and snapped your selfie), dig a bit deeper into the varied and richly textured culture of this Basque capital.

“See the city by kayak or through street art, or do some shopping at one of Europe’s largest food markets. Stroll the streets and the banks of the estuary and revel in just how easy it is to feel like a Bilbaíno, a local of this former industrial hole turned European art world destination.”

The city has seen a four-fold increase in Airbnb bookings and that boom is likely to continue. Next year it will host some of the games in UEFA’s European Championships.

Milwaukee, Wisconsin (729 per cent)

You read it right. A 729 per cent increase in Wisconsin’s lakeside city. Why? Well, it’s likely because Milwaukee is the host of next year’s Democratic National Convention.

That aside, the city has plenty going for it. “It is not a location that anyone outside Wisconsin knows much about – save, perhaps, for a vague pub-quiz-trivia memory that 2011 movie Bridesmaids is set there,” says Chris Leadbeater.

“But it is visibly improved by its waterside location. The Milwaukee Art Museum knows this full well, sitting within splashing range of the waves on the lip of Juneau Park – its white, skeletal structure, designed by the Spanish modernist architect Santiago Calatrava, a perfect complement to the shimmering surface.

“The Historic Third Ward plays the same game – a warehouse district on the shore that, having been through an inevitable 20th century decline, is now awash with restaurants, bars and youthful zip (microbrewery the Milwaukee Ale House being an example; ale-house.com).”