UK’s third largest high street retailer, Co-operative Travel on gauzing the travel booking trends of this year, has forecasted that a holiday price war is about to begin this peak booking period. The retailer has also indicated that Dalaman has overtaken the other sought after tourist destination Majorca as Brits ‘ top hot spot for 2010.

Co-op has also signaled that the rise in the bookings for the last three months is the indicator of  market recovery.

The bookings of Dalaman, the sought after destination were 82% up on the same period last year and the retailer’s top 20 destinations were collectively up 26%, with customers’ focus appearing to be on price and value for money.

The average price of the package holiday to Majorca was (£595), while the price of the holiday to Dalaman was £516, which is £79 per person lower than the earlier one. This garners the preference of the holidaymakers to opt for Dalaman rather than Majorca as they seek to stretch their budget further.

Trevor Davis, director of retail distribution at The Co-operative Travel, said: “As the holiday sector recovers, the battle for bookers will intensify with companies seeking to increase their market share after a challenging 12 months.

“We’re offering as much as 20% off thousands of holidays or free child places, along with very low deposits of £50 per person to allow people to book early and take advantage of the deals available.”

However, this has also been forecasted by Davis that the deals and choices for holidaymakers will quickly vanish.

“If the current increase in bookings continues and confidence returns to the market, we will see fewer bargain deals being offered.

“What’s more, many operators are reducing capacity and this, combined with the recent high profile collapses of major travel businesses, will mean that there are fewer holidays for sale when it comes to people wanting late deals.

“Savvy bookers should take advantage of the deals available now and choose their destination with care.”