Where Britons go on holiday

September 2, 2019 Alex

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2/3 of all Britons have their holidays in July and August, which are the most favored months for holidays. British schoolchildren are on holiday from the end of July to September.

The classic British holiday is a seaside vacation. But more and more Britons are taking a second holiday abroad in the winter (skiing for a week) or Spring (weekend/short breaks to European cities).

Table of Contents

Outbound tourism
- Top 10 countries visited by residents of the UK in 2019 (in 1,000 visits)
Domestic tourism

Outbound tourism

Europe is the most popular destination for United Kingdom citizens, accounting for 80% of visits abroad.

NetCredit analyzed 23 years of traveler data between 1994-2017 from the Office for National Statistics to create an interactive map showing destinations Britons favor and how they have changed over the years.

Data were taken from the International Passenger Survey, which conducts between 700 thousand and 800 thousand interviews every year; 250 thousand of them are used to produce estimates of overseas travel and tourism.

Key Findings

Spain is the most popular destination overall with a total of 242,720,029 visitors from 1994 – 2017.
France is next with 155,700,981 visitors.
Spain is number 1 for every year from 1994 – 2017.
France is number 2 for every year from 1994 – 2017.
Greece loses popularity from 2010 onwards, appearing in third place 6 times from 1994 to 2010, but is replaced by USA or Italy from 2010 – 2017.

Interactive map reveals where in the world Brits travel to

In later years, Spain remained the most visited country by residents of the UK, with around 18.1 million visits made in 2019. Outbound tourism from the UK has been growing every year, with travelers mostly journeying to destinations in Europe.

Top 10 countries visited by residents of the UK in 2019 (in 1,000 visits)

Spain: 18,129
France: 10,374
Italy: 5,105
United States: 4,805
Ireland: 4,786
Netherlands: 3,573
Greece: 3,438
Germany: 3,375
Portugal: 3,311
Poland: 3,231

There is s a significant regional divide where British holidaymakers consider their perfect vacation hotspot.

Liverpudlians are 48 percent more likely to head to Costa Blanca than the average Britons.
Brummies are looking to blend culture with the beach in Barcelona (31 percent).
Brits from Leeds (33 percent) and Manchester (19 percent) prefer the sunny climate of Fuerteventura.
Geordies are nearly double as possible (84percent) to sun-seek on the Costa Brava than anyone else.
Britons from York prefer Ibiza (33 percent).
Bristolians fly to Faro (36 percent).
Londoners are more than 3 times likely to journey to Marrakech than the rest of the United Kingdom.
Majorca is the best destination for those from Cardiff (25 percent).
Plymouth (33 percent) and Brighton (48 percent) are like Gran Canaria over other vacation destinations.
The Scots are also diverged, with Glaswegians choosing to head to the Costa Del Sol (77 percent ), while those from Edinburgh are more likely to lead to Barcelona (47 percent).
Norwich is 82 percent more likely to ‘go Greek’ and reserve a Paphos vacation than anyone traveling there.
Those from Belfast are (59 percent) more likely to journey to Majorca than the average Britons.

In 2020 UK citizens made 23.8 million visits abroad, 74 percent fewer than the last year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Domestic tourism

Almost half of the British holidaymakers had taken a holiday both abroad and within the UK in 2019. 25% of Britons take a holiday in the United Kingdom only.