With the euro hot on the pound’s heels, and the dollar no longer the deal it used to be, Cheapflights.co.uk finds holidaymakers are flying east to chase cheaper currencies.

Brit-magnet resorts including Tenerife and Lanzarote are likely to lose summer traffic to up-and-coming resorts this year, according to Cheapflights.co.uk’s latest figures. Compared with 2008, online searches for tickets to Tenerife are down 45 per cent and Lanzarote down 18 per cent.

Cheapflights.co.uk, the UK’s leading flight price comparison website, has also found New York City - once the shopping destination of choice due to a weak dollar - has seen searches fall 27 per cent as the pound loses value.

The top destinations for April are all part of the Continent. The non-Euro beach resort of Antalya (up 83 per cent) led the way, followed by the buzzing city of Berlin (up 83 per cent), the ‘recession Riviera’ destination of Malta (up 63 per cent) and the City of Bridges, Venice (up 56 per cent). Rome saw a staggering 87 per cent increase in searches, with the April Easter period a likely factor for the surge.

“The recession is having two clear effects on destination selection,” says Francesca Ecsery, General Manager of Cheapflights.co.uk. “Traditional tourist hotspots, such as Rome, are enjoying a rebirth in interest while Euro-free resorts continue to build in popularity, drawing holidaymakers to destinations further afield. Value for money tops the search criteria for many Brits and looking outside the Eurozone or to big cities such as Rome and Berlin where hotel deals make the destination more attractive.”