One of Britain’s leading long-haul travel companies, Kuoni UK, has revealed that far east Asian nations have sprung back to the top of the favourite 20 faraway destinations for Britons.

Despite the much-publicised outbreak of bird flu, six out of the top 10 long-haul destinations were in Asia – Thailand (most popular), Maldives (second), Sri Lanka (fourth), Singapore (seventh), Malaysia (eighth) and Hong Kong (tenth).

The other destinations to make it to the top 10 were the USA (third most popular), Egypt (fifth), Dubai (sixth), and Mauritius (ninth).

The tourism industry in the far east has suffered significant set backs in the past three years with international terrorism, the outbreak of SARS and the uncertainty over the war in Iraq all contributing to falling numbers of western visitors.

However, Ann Marie Hansen, spokesperson for Kuoni UK, said the latest possible hindrance – the bird flu outbreak – has had little effect on the popularity of Asian destinations.

“Although as a responsible travel agency we have to monitor and keep our customers aware of the situation, we have had only a few calls on the subject from concerned travellers,” she said.