13m people ‘will have booked their holidays by February’

Some 13 million Britons keen to escape the woes of shop closures and bank bailouts will have booked their summer breaks – potentially including holidays to Australia – by the end of February.

Some 13 million Britons keen to escape the woes of shop closures and bank bailouts will have booked their summer breaks – potentially including holidays to Australia – by the end of February.

This is according to a poll by Sainsbury’s Travel Insurance, which revealed that 28 per cent of the UK’s adult population will have sorted out their travel plans by then, spending an average of £881.13 each on their breaks.

Thos in London were the most keen to get away, with 35 per cent intending to have finalised their holiday bookings by the end of next month.

“It’s really encouraging to see that people are still planning to get away despite the credit crunch, which just shows the importance of a holiday to the British public,” said Sainsbury’s spokesperson Sam Marrs.

The Association of British Travel Agents recently found that six million people in the UK will have booked their summer holidays by the end of January.