Destinations have to bow to the Big Apple when it comes to popular long-haul holiday spots.

New York topped the list of far-away destinations in a holiday trend report by tour operator Hayes & Jarvis.

The company said the New York surge was down to heavy demand in the UK for summer trips, Christmas shopping breaks, twin-centre holidays with Boston and even early bookings for 2013.

Second in the list was Thailand, which has sprung back to prominence following a big campaign by Thai Airways.

Third was the Maldives, with Las Vegas fourth, Mexico fifth and Mauritius sixth.

Dubai, Florida, St Lucia and Antigua made up the rest of the top 10, while other destinations currently doing well included Vietnam, Cambodia and Japan.

Meanwhile, in another survey, Post Office Travel Money revealed that Sri Lanka was the best value-for-money long-haul destination – for the third year running.

Based on the cost of 12 typical tourist items in 32 far-away destinations, the survey showedthat the items cost just €54.69 in Sri Lanka.

The next best value spot was Vietnam (€65.31 for the 12 items) with Bali third (€66.70).

Malaysia (€113) recorded one of the year’s biggest rises in price (40 per cent), while the most expensive destination overall was South Korea (€208.16).

On the American continent, Mexico was the cheapest destination (€75.42 for the items), while of the six US destinations, Washington DC was the best value (€94.18).

Cheapest Caribbean destination was the Dominican Republic (€116.26), while the best value African spot was Gambia (€76.26).

Hayes & Jarvis’s top 10 long-haul destinations 2012

1. New York
2. Thailand
3. Maldives
4. Las Vegas
5. Mexico
6. Mauritius
7. Dubai
8. Florida
9. St Lucia
10. Antigua