Mumbai :    Believers in the supernatural are flocking to two small villages – Bugarach in the South of France and Şirince in Turkey – as the end of the Mayan Calendar nears, reveals leading travel search site Skyscanner.  December 21, 2012 as per the Mayan Prophecy marks the Shifting of World Ages, a return to zero point, where we officially transition from the current 5,125 year World Age Cycle, and enter into a New World Cycle; marking a new level of our unfoldment as a planetary collective; a new level of our human evolution in concert with our living Universe.

Dedicated followers of this prophecy believe that the remote farming village of Bugarach could well be an escape from impending disaster.  The plan: to catch a connecting flight of an altogether different kind, where in-flight re-runs of the film Alien are replaced with a much more realistic alien encounter.

Incredibly, one-way searches for flights to the south of France are up by 41% in the week before 21st December as compared with 7th-13th December flight searches and with a 42% increase in searches from the UK alone, that’s a good few British believers!

But France is not the only place to see a surge in visitors. Şirince, a village in the Turkish Izmir Province, is seeing flight searches up 30%.

However, clearly not everyone believes that the end really is near. Across Europe, 22nd December looks set to be the busiest getaway day of the entire year, with Skyscanner seeing its highest volume of searches as families head home or get away for a break at Christmas.

Kavitha Gnanamurthy, Skyscanner’s Market Development Manager for India, commented:  “Our flight search data does prove that peoples belief in the Mayan Prophecy is strong as one way flights to France and Turkey have shot up for the 21st of December as compared to the first week of December.  What seems ironic is that not everyone believes in this prophecy as the highest number of flight searches seem to be for the 22nd of December across Europe.  I wonder whether Indians are convinced enough to fly out to France or Turkey for fear of the end of the world.”

For true Mayan Prophecy believers, one-way tickets to Perpignan, an hour’s drive from Bugarach, in the week leading up to 21st December currently start at approx. INR 43,000 from Delhi and approx. INR 41,000 from Mumbai. **Alternatively, one-way flights to Izmir, an hour’s drive away from Şirince, currently start at approx.  INR 28,000 from Delhi and approx. INR 24,000 from Mumbai.

*Searches for 14-20th December compared with 7th-13th December

**Flight price correct as at 5th December, searched on Skyscanner travelling with AirFrance and Pegasus.