More Britons headed off on holiday in the 12 months to late July 2019, according to ABTA’s latest Holiday Habits Report.
Nearly nine in 10 (88%) took a holiday this year, the highest figure since 2011.
Holidays abroad, particularly longer holidays of seven nights or more, are proving especially popular.
The number of foreign holidays of seven or more nights has increased to an average of 1.1 per person in 2019, up from 1.0 in 2018 and 0.7 in 2016.
More than six in 10 Brits (64%) took a foreign holiday in the 12 months to July 2019, up from 60% the previous year, and the highest figure since 2011.
More than half the population (51%) took a package holiday abroad during the year, with value for money the number one reason for picking a package.
UK holidaymakers are looking to make their money go further by cutting their spending before and during their holidays.
Compared to two years ago (2017), people are spending on average £98 less before and during a short overseas break and £94 less on a longer overseas break. Spending is also down for shorter and longer holidays in the UK.
Mainland Spain, the Canaries, the Balearics, Greece and Turkey are the nation’s favourite overseas package destinations, while France, North America and Italy feature as favourites among holidaymakers taking a variety of types of holiday.
However, other destinations have proved popular this year, creating competition for the Western Mediterranean.
Good-value package destinations including Egypt, Turkey and Bulgaria have seen double-digit growth. Long-haul travel is also booming, with 25% of people saying they visited Asia alone, up from 15% in 2018.
Families are fuelling the growth. Families with children over five years of age took an average of 5.6 holidays during the year – half in the UK and half overseas. Families with children under five took an average of 3.9 breaks.
