The countries occupied the top three places in the tour operator’s annual run down of trending destinations, logging the biggest year-on-year rise in bookings.

The Maldives took the overall top spot, with Thailand and Sri Lanka ranking as second and third best sellers.

Dubai and Abu Dhabi fell notably however – with the UAE as a whole dropping from number eight down to 15. Kuoni attributed the decline to a “slight dip in bookings a result of increasing instability in the Middle East”.

Egypt has also dropped out of the operator’s top 30, while Morocco and Turkey are similarly down.

Meanwhile Kuoni noted that Cuba had dropped in popularity slightly, from seven down to eight, with demand from holidaymakers currently outstripping supply, the operator said.

The Kuoni Worldwide Trends report, which tracks booking patterns to monitor the popularity of destinations, is now in its 36th year.

Derek Jones, Kuoni’s managing director, said: “Travel has become so integral to people’s lifestyle - there is a desire to see and experience the world like never before.

This year Antigua overtook Barbados as Kuoni customers’ favourite Caribbean island while also rising from ninth overall in 2015 to number seven in 2016.

Vietnam is also enjoying a boost in popularity. Five years ago the country didn’t even feature in Kuoni’s top 30 destinations, but in 2016 it was listed in 12th place.

The south-east Asian country is benefiting from new direct flights, along with the likes of Peru and Costa Rica.

Jones said: “New direct flights from the UK to places such as Vietnam, Peru and Costa Rica this year means parts of the world are opening up for mainstream tourism, which is changing the landscape of travel.”

He added: "Beyond the mass-market beach trips, which tend to be much more price-sensitive, we are definitely seeing a thirst for exploration amongst British holidaymakers prepared to invest in making their wish lists a reality and travel with companies which have a network to support them should anything go wrong.”