Northerners booking more holidays abroad, research shows

People living in the north of the UK are booking more holidays to Egypt and other winter sun destinations than their southern counterparts, a new survey shows.

Holidays to Egypt are among the winter sun breaks that have seen a rise in popularity compared with last year, according to new research from Co-operative Travel.

Tourists from the north of England and Scotland are booking more trips abroad this winter than those in the south of the country.

Bookings at northern airport jumped by 46 per cent compared with last year. The airports to experience the biggest rises in passenger numbers are Robin Hood Doncaster and Liverpool, with 46 and 41 per cent increases respectively.

By contrast, the only southern airports to demonstrate an increase are Heathrow and Luton.

In terms of destinations, the poll found that Turkey, Egypt and Tunisia had seen the greatest rise in popularity.

Mark Tanzer, chief executive of the Association of British Travel Agents, commented: “We are still seeing customers booking late and looking for good value for money, so there are no surprises that the winter warmers at this stage are those outside of the eurozone.”

Earlier this year, research by InsureandGo found that one in three people who had been, or were going, travelling said they were doing so to escape the economic doom and gloom in the UK.

Written by Ruth Norris