Holidays to Greece have not been affected by the country’s economic crisis, with four million Britons heading to the country this summer.

Foreign exchange company Travelex said the number of Britons travelling to Greece could be double the average number of two million, with travel agents reporting that all-inclusive bookings were up by a third over the last two weeks.

Tour operators have cut prices for Greek trips, and the survey shows that many are setting off on holiday to Greece from airports such as Heathrow and Gatwick due to the strengthening of the pound against the Euro.

A fifth said they were “not concerned at all” about a possible collapse of the euro, with the majority saying they were just “mildly concerned”.

However, almost half of all people polled believe the euro will collapse in Greece, with the majority saying they expect it to happen before the end of the summer.

But this does not seem to put people off travelling, with fewer than 2% cancelling a pre-booked trip to the country, while a further 47% said they would not change their travel plans whatever happens.

Elvin Eldic of Travelex said that Britons are “more concerned about bagging a bargain”, adding: “We’d urge Brits to not only take a mixture of cash and a prepaid card but also to take the time to check the terms and conditions of their travel insurance when booking a holiday or travelling to Greece.”

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More Britons are visiting Ireland, but the country has seen a drop in the number of American visitors, statistics reveal.

Between November 2011 and January this year almost 1.2 million visits were made to Ireland, which is a 22,800 rise (1.9%) on the same three-month period a year earlier.

Figures from the Central Statistics Office show a rise in the number of Britons visiting the land of the shamrock, with a 4.7% rise, to 580,800 trips.

Visitors from continental Europe increased by 3%, taking that number up to 404,400. This means there was also a likely rise in the number of airport transfers between London airports such as Heathrow and Stansted.

But the number of long-haul trips to Ireland saw a sudden fall, with journeys from North America decreasing 5.4% to 141,900.

Visitor numbers from other areas around the globe dipped by 9.4%, to 68,400.

Leo Varadkar, minister for tourism, said the statistics were a good start to the year, even though the “picture was mixed” and the performance of some markets were more impressive than others.

“A range of factors such as economic confidence, or uncertainty, in many of our source markets is evident in these figures with visits up 16.3% from Germany and down 5.1% from Italy,” he said.

“However, it is particularly important that we sustain growth in visits from Great Britain, our largest market for inbound tourism.”

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A dismal end to the UK summer has persuaded thousands of Britons to travel abroad on long-haul flights from airports like Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted and Luton in the coming weeks for one last dose of sunshine.

Many of these holidaymakers, it would seem, are opting for a Caribbean getaway as package holidays to the region tend to offer good value for money and, of course, plenty of sunshine. 

Niel Alobaidi, Hayes & Jarvis commercial director, said: “The Caribbean has seen some great growth in recent weeks on the back of excellent value offers.

“We’re seeing growth across all the main islands in the region of 20%, with the most dramatic increases in the Dominican Republic, whose 100% year-on-year growth has been driven largely by BA’s new direct flights into Punta Cana.”

Britons escaping the damp and dreary UK weather by jetting off to the Caribbean are enjoying the best-value deals in the Dominican Republic, according to the Post Office’s latest Travel Money Long Haul Report, while good deals are also to be had in Antigua, Barbados and Jamaica.

Although the Caribbean might seem like an eternal paradise, the region can, from time to time, suffer from unsettled weather.

Bargain hunters might be thrilled to discover that airlines are also slashing fares to the region, partly to offset the impact of hefty UK flight taxes, while Hayes & Jarvis has noted that in recent weeks long-haul holidaymakers are ready to destination-swap to enjoy the biggest savings.

Mr Alobaidi added: “Four-star packages with 40% reductions (over £600) are currently proving more alluring than some cheaper deals in lower-grade hotels.”

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Research has revealed that many Britons like to be considerate to hotel staff when on holiday by cleaning their rooms.

The poll of 2,000 people by website Hotels found that up to 59% of those surveyed had given their hotel room a clean before heading off.

Some 60% of holidaymakers even made the bed – suggesting that people travelling out of the major UK airports such as Luton and Stansted like to keep things tidy.

Around 59% of people also said that cleaning their room before heading off was merely good manners – even though the majority of people didn’t say they enjoyed it.

For 45% of those polled this cleaning extended to folding towels, while 11% even cleaned the toilet.

When it came to the exact reasoning behind the cleaning, for 43% it was a matter of routine, while 45% wanted to leave a good impression on hotel staff in a bid to avoid being called messy.

Regionally, people from the South East were the most likely to tidy their rooms – with 67% getting involved before heading off to catch their airport transfers.

But only 39% of people in East Anglia said they tidied up, making the region the least likely to clean.

The website’s communications director Alison Couper said: “Going on holiday is all about getting a break from the routine of home life, yet it’s evident many Brits just can’t drop the cleaning when away.”

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Research has suggested that people living in France spend far more money on their holidays than Britons.

Online travel agents Lastminute said Britons spend just £898 on holidays – many of which will begin at London Stansted – against the French’s £1,418.

In news that prompt travellers to organise a Stansted bus to the airport, Britons were also lagging behind some European countries when it came to planning their break.

People in the UK spend 45 days planning their holiday – a number dwarfed by Spain’s 86 days.

The research found that just 36% of people in the UK plan well in advance for their summer break. In fact, 10% don’t get started on preparation until just before they’re due to depart.  

Some 29% of respondents said that having plenty of preparation time made them feel more relaxed. And 14% said the longer their wait the more their expectations about the holiday grew.

Also a total of 34% of those polled said they spent more cash if there was a longer wait between booking their holiday and jetting off.

Lastminute UK and Ireland managing director Mark Maddock said: “It’s interesting to see the difference in countries’ holiday-booking lead times. The Irish are the most last-minute but seem to be among the lower spenders.”

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Britons are failing to enjoy what foreign cuisine has to offer while abroad, a survey has shown. 

Travel agent sunshine revealed that around a quarter (27%) of UK tourists only eat food that they could just as easily eat at home.

Results also show that 55% actively seek out home comforts while abroad, such as hunting down a restaurant serving up British food. 

Some examples of those failing to immerse themselves in local culture include the 25% who look for British bars, the 21% who want to watch UK television, the 17% who visit British stores and the 12% who buy British brands.

Meanwhile, only 9% said they tried to speak the language of the country they visited on their last holiday, while 48% said they expect the locals to speak English.

On the other hand, just over a fifth (21%) of Britons abroad said they actively avoided home comforts, with two in three of these saying they adopt this attitude so they can experience something different. 

Sunshine co-founder Chris Brown described how he thinks tourists are missing out if they just fly out of Heathrow or Stansted and live as if they had just stayed at home.

He said: “I think it’s a real shame when British holidaymakers don’t attempt to try the language or cuisine of the country they are visiting.

“It seems a waste to fly thousands of miles away on holiday and just end up seeking out British home comforts.”

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Cheap flights from UK to Spain may have resulted in a sudden rise in popularity of Mallorca as a holiday hotspot

The number of German people taking holidays to the beach has fallen over the last decade, figures show.

There has been a steady decline from 1998, when around 64.5% of German holidaymakers headed to the beach, to the current figure of 58.5%, according to recent figures from a poll carried out at the ITB Berlin travel trade show.

The German cruise market, on the other hand, has seen a 95% boost since 2002.

Martin Buck of ITB Berlin said: “More and more Germans want to experience something new when they are away and would like to get to know a country and its people.”

Meanwhile, across the channel, Britons are flocking in their droves to rented holiday accommodation in Spain.

There are an increasing number of cheap flights heading out from the UK to Spain such as low cost flights from London Stansted to Mallorca. This is likely to have contributed to some extent to the sudden rise in popularity of the country as a holiday hotspot.

HomeAway Holiday Rentals said it had seen a 39% increase in booking enquiries in the first three months of the year, compared with the same period in 2010.

News of the figures come after property analysts predicted that the Balearic island of Mallorca will be this year’s hottest Spanish destination.

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