The number of UK residents going abroad was up 8% for the first three months of this year, although visits to North America fell by 4%.
These visitors spent £8.6 billion during visits abroad in January to March this year, 11.7% more than during the same period of 2016.
Spend in Europe rose by 10% but fell 1.5% in North America.
According to the ONS, Brits made 14.1 million visits abroad in January to March this year.
Visits to Europe were up by 7.8% but visits to ‘other countries’ – outside Europe and North America – saw the largest rise of 12.4%.
Holiday visits continued to be the most common reason for visits abroad – 7.6 million holidays, representing a 5.6% jump.
Visits to friends or relatives rose by 13.4% in this quarter, miscellaneous visits also increased by 13.4%, and business visits were up by 6%.
UK residents spent 147 million nights abroad, an increase of 9.1%, and the number of nights spent in North America was up 11.6%.
