Aussies hear London calling

London has replaced Auckland as the most popular destination for Australians booking through the Zuji website.

In the first quarter of this year the proportion of Australians booking to visit Auckland fell back slightly but, as a consolation, Christchurch is now the eighth most popular place for them to visit and Wellington is 19th.

"Despite the snub," the website observes, its tongue firmly in its cheek, "New Zealanders keep coming back to Australia."

Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane remain the top three destinations for Kiwis going abroad and Perth is now in ninth spot.

Zuji's booking figures show the most popular destinations for its New Zealand customers are: 1 Sydney, 2 Melbourne, 3 Brisbane, 4 London, 5 Los Angeles, 6 Nadi, 7 Bangkok, 8 Singapore, 9 Paris and 10 Perth.

The biggest change during the period, the website reports, is that after the tsunami catastrophe fewer New Zealanders are going to Phuket and more are beginning to explore Sri Lanka, with Colombo jumping from 40th place three months before up 18 places to 22.