Unwrapping the top destinations for chocoholics
The recession is proving a useful tool for the UK’s chocolate retailers because while sales on other products dwindle, chocolate sales have more than quadrupled. An increase of 80 percent year-on-year cited by a leading UK retailer* shows that the UK’s desire for chocolate has not melted in 2009.
Spotting the UK’s sweetening sweet tooth, Cheapflights.co.uk, the UK’s leading flight price comparison website where you can search and compare the best deals on the market, has researched the best destinations to indulge even the chocolatiest of cravings.
Francesca Ecsery, General Manager for Cheapflights.co.uk comments: “The Cheapflights office is testament to the current increase in chocolate sales. I think our consumption of it has at least doubled if not tripled in the last quarter alone! Not surprisingly, we’re also seeing a significant rise in searches to famous chocolate producing destinations with travellers clambering to indulge their taste buds over the upcoming Easter break.”
The high number of flavonoids contained in chocolate not only help boost the mood and calm the nerves, but can even reduce cholesterol and blood pressure provided the chocolate is dark enough – the higher the percentage of cocoa, the greater the boost.
For the deepest of depressions and the darkest of cravings, nothing beats a trip to Austria for a sampling of its notoriously rich Sacher Torte, containing about five ounces of bittersweet melted chocolate and a further five ounces for the glaze itself. Wash it down with an infamous Viennese hot cocoa and melt the recession into a distant memory. Cheapflights.co.uk’s viewer searches show a 19 percent increase from the same time last year; the proof is in the pudding for Austria’s rising popularity.
If Austria doesn’t tickle your fancy, perhaps Belgium will. This popular short-haul destination is home to all things chocolate from museums and festivals, to factories and even a chocolate tea room. For an all round experience of production phases, differing chocolate moulds and glass cases housing the moulds of chocolates past, visit The Museum of Cocoa and Chocolate. An 11 percent rise in viewer searches to this choco-destination stands as a testament to its appeal.
An unexpected destination for chocolate lovers is Lebanon for which Cheapflights.co.uk is reporting a whopping 117 percent rise in viewer searches compared with the same period last year. Although Lebanon’s sweet elements are traditionally either overlooked or presumed to include only Baklava, the country is immensely popular for its offerings by famous chocolatiers like Patchi. Not only is the chocolate itself top quality, but Lebanese packaging is literally an art with each individual chocolate specially wrapped into whichever shape, size or occasion the customer requires – when it comes to design, the sky is the limit.
For an extended, family themed Easter break, travellers should head over to New Zealand’s Cadbury factory, home to the infamous Cadbury World for an experience comparable to a real life version of ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’. Complete with themed displays, product samplings and a five storey high chocolate fall; this chocolate heaven is not to be missed. Cheapflights.co.uk also confirms that its viewer searches to the destination are up by 24 percent compared with the same period last year.**
To start planning your Easter holiday now, search and compare flights to any of these destinations by visiting cheapflights.co.uk.
* gm.tv
** cadburyworld.co.nz/visit.html