More Britons are stopping with friends and family when they travel abroad for their holidays, new tourism statistics have revealed.

It has never been easier to get away on holiday, with a number of airports such as Stansted, Luton and Gatwick offering cheap and convenient flights to some of the most attractive destinations in the world.

And the number of UK residents jetting off to locations where they are hosted by family and friends grew by 9% in the first two months of 2011, the Office for National Statistics figures show. It appears that many Britons see this as a way of enjoying the usual benefits of a holiday while saving on accommodation costs.

However, the overall number of foreign holidays taken by UK residents dropped by 4% in January to February 2011, compared with the same period in the previous year. There was also a marginal fall in foreign business trips, with the number dropping off by 1%.

The rise in visits to friends and relatives meant that the number of trips UK residents took overseas in the first two months of this year reached just under 6.6 million – about the same as the January-February 2010 period.

Spending by Britons on these foreign trips fell 3% to £3.71 billion in the first two months of this year.

Copyright © Press Association 2011

Leading tour operator First Choice has announced that every one of its holidays will be “all-inclusive” from next summer.

People who book a First Choice holiday and fly from airports like Stansted, Heathrow, Gatwick and Luton, for example, will not have to pay extra for meals, drinks or other services once they have paid for flights and hotels.

The new all-inclusive deals will be available from May, with First Choice going as far as to say that holidaymakers can “leave their wallets at home”.

A First Choice spokeswoman attempted to ease fears that the cost of a holiday would become more expensive.

She confirmed that “prices will remain as competitive as ever”.

First Choice revealed that all-inclusive holidays had grown in popularity in recent years and a family of four could save £511 a week on an all-inclusive deal compared with a bed and breakfast offer.

All-inclusive holidays now account for 65% of First Choice sales, which a 32% increase between 2004 and 2009 achieved.

Johan Lundgren, the UK and Ireland managing director of Tui, First Choice’s parent company, said: “This is a major milestone for the UK travel industry and an exciting and timely transformation for the First Choice brand.

“All inclusive is becoming the holiday of choice for many British consumers, offering them great value for money, yet there is no mainstream holiday company currently offering a completely all inclusive portfolio.”

Copyright © Press Association 2011

A survey by online holiday company ebookers has revealed that Britons plan to spend £153 billion on holidays this year, which is 36% more than they did a decade ago. 

After flying from airports, including Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted and Luton, British holidaymakers intend to spend nearly £700 each, compared with just over £550 in 2001, the poll of 1,000 people indicated.

It also revealed that 81% intend to take three holidays this year, while 44% plan to enjoy a holiday in the UK. In 2001, 12% indicated they were not going away at all, while 24% are going on a long-haul holiday this year.

The survey also revealed that nearly half (47%) of women prefer beach holidays, as opposed to just over a third of men (36%). Resort holidays are firm-favourites with the Welsh, while those living in the West Midlands favour city breaks.

When it comes to the duration of the holiday, one-week and two-week trips are still the most popular, while the number of people going on holiday with their partners has increased from 28% in 2001 to 43% a decade later. However, the number of people who plan to go on holiday with their parents has declined from 34% in 2001 to 16% this year.

Britain’s big spenders live in the East Midlands, it would seem, with residents living there planning to spend the most on holidays this year – more than £2,943 on average.

Those living in Northern Ireland are forking out the least, averaging just £1,900. Across the UK, meanwhile, the average man plans to spend £2,602 on holidays this year, compared with £2,397 for women.

Those splashing the cash the most while on holiday are travellers in the 45-54 age range, who are planning to spend an average of £950 each this year – a 40% increase on the 2001 figure.

Copyright © Press Association 2011

Two in five men have opted to propose to their partners while on holiday abroad, a survey reveals.

According to holiday price comparison website travelmatch, 40% of men had opted to fly their partners overseas from airports like Gatwick, Stansted and Luton to pop the question, with America being the most popular destination, followed by France, Italy and Spain.

More than 70% of women polled said they had an inkling that their partner was about to propose, while 27% were certain that their other half was going to pop the question.

Considering that 40% of men admitted that the proposal did not go according to plan, thanks largely to nerves and the inability to find the perfect moment.

The poll, which questioned 1,000 adults who have married or got engaged in the last three years, also revealed that couples who get engaged abroad spend an average of £4,687 on the occasion, including more than £2,000 for an engagement ring and around £1,000 on flights and accommodation.

The most likely proposal venue was a restaurant, with a well-known monument or landmark and the beach among other popular choices.

Men spend an average of 10 weeks planning the perfect engagement holiday while a fifth spend up to four months in preparation. Around a third proposed on the first day of the holiday, while 54% waited until mid-holiday, with 10% doing it on the last day.

Unsurprisingly, two in three men said that asking their girlfriends to marry them was the most nerve-wracking thing they had ever done.

Copyright © Press Association 2011

A Dutch university is giving British students the chance to fly out and study in Holland at a much cheaper cost than in England and Wales.

Fees of £1,472 per year offered by Maastricht University for courses taught in English combined with the ease of getting from the UK to the Netherlands via airports such as Stansted and Luton could tempt students to get their degree abroad. Most British students currently pay £3,375 a year in tuition fees.

The move has sparked fears of a brain drain in England and Wales brought on by tuition fees that could reach as much as £9,000 from 2012.

An open day will be held on Saturday in an attempt to encourage prospective students to take advantage of the lower fees.

Jeanine Gregersen, Maastricht University’s director of marketing and communications, said: ”Maastricht is opening its doors to prospective UK students because we are very confident they will be impressed with what they find here.

“Already we have doubled the number of Bachelor’s UK students and quadrupled the number on Master’s programmes in the past year. The word is getting around that Maastricht is the place to come for a high quality university education that prepares students well for exciting careers and does not leave them struggling to pay off huge debts.”

Copyright © Press Association 2011

Award-winning airline Monarch is increasing its services to the Eastern Mediterranean this summer by introducing flights to Bodrum in Turkey and the Greek island of Corfu from May. 

These flights will also be joined by a number of additional services to Monarch’s top European hotspots including the Balearic and Canary Islands as well as Cyprus. 

This influx of new services will mainly depart from Gatwick, although there will be three flights a week to Corfu from Luton Airport starting on May 23. 

Monarch will fly out of Gatwick to Bodrum for the first time from May 23, while there will be extra flights to Palma, Tenerife and Paphos from the airport.

Managing director of Monarch Airlines, Kevin George, said the company is expecting the new flights to be a big success. 

He said: “Customer response to the 135,000 additional seats that were added into Monarch’s summer flying schedule last month has been fantastic and we have continued to see demand for our services grow. 

“It’s great therefore that we have been able to respond to this demand further by boosting our Eastern Med programme with the introduction of new flights to Corfu and Bodrum, as well as strengthen schedules on a number of our core sunshine routes. Particularly pleasing is the addition of extra flights to Paphos from Gatwick and Manchester, which are not scheduled to start operating until May, but are already selling strongly.”

Copyright © Press Association 2011

Many Britons choose to go on holiday to the same destinations time and time again, a survey has revealed.

A study carried out by price comparison website travelsupermarket found that as many as a third of travellers go back to the same spot for their annual break, while 10% of the 2,156 adults polled said they have been to the same destination more than 20 times.

More than two-thirds (68%) of those who made repeat visits to a location admitted they did so because they could relax and knew what to expect from their holiday. 

Other important factors that influenced habitual holidaymakers included accommodation, weather and value for money.

It should, therefore, come as no surprise to discover that beach resorts were the most popular repeat holidays, while countryside breaks were second. However, few choose to return to a city they had already visited.

With that in mind, it is possible that holidaymakers who are stuck in their ways are also likely use the same airport, most often the UK’s major airports of Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted and Luton.

Meanwhile, despite preferring familiarity whilst on holiday, 69% considered themselves open-minded and willing to try new things.

A good-priced holiday would persuade people to try a new location more than anything else, while a personal recommendation or encouragement from a partner would also tempt quite a few of those polled.

On the other hand, inferior accommodation, crime and poor reviews are the attributes that would most likely put people off a particular holiday destination.

Bob Atkinson, of travelsupermarket, said: “With Britons looking long and hard at where they can afford to travel in 2011, it is hardly surprising that so many of us return to familiar destinations time and time again on the same holidays.”

Copyright © Press Association 2011

The Spanish island of Majorca was the preferred destination for Britons travelling abroad for some sunshine during the winter season, statistics compiled by a car rental website have shown.

Majorca tops winter holiday poll

Carhiremarket revealed that Palma de Majorca was the most popular destination for vehicle rental in December 2010 and January 2011, while Malaga and Alicante were second and third most popular respectively.

According to the price comparison website, a quarter of all Britons heading abroad for a fly-drive holiday during the winter months chose to visit Spain, flying from airports such as Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted and Luton. 

Winter breaks in America were also a popular option with holidaymakers, with Orlando listed among the top 10 destinations for car hire. Paphos in Cyprus and Porto in Portugal also featured on the Carhiremarket list, along with the Caribbean island of Martinique, which made the top 10 list for the first time.

Those Britons who did escape the extreme winter weather that hit the UK at the end of 2010 and the start of 2011 might have opted to leave their cars at home and instead use bus transfer services to reach the airport.

Anel Brun, product manager for carhiremarket, said: “As the Met Office warned late last year that December was almost certainly the coldest since records began, many Brits took to the skies and flew off to sunnier climes.”

Copyright Press Association 2011

Budget airline easyJet is set to move into the package holidays sector in the next few weeks, and already has plans to offer five million bargains in 30 countries to entice customers.

easyJet Holidays is a new operation that will see the airline link up with independent bedbank lowcostbeds, which provides accommodation for the lowcostholidays operation.

The package deals, which are being billed as ”flexible holidays at unbeatable packages”, will be made available through Teletext Holidays – a sales platform that has been the subject of a multimillion-pound restructuring and relaunch by its owners, Daily Mail & General Trust, and also through an easyJet Holidays call centre.

easyJet flies to 89 destinations from UK airports including Stansted, Luton and Gatwick.

In theory, the new operation appears likely to slash overheads and labour costs to a minimum, and also cuts out commissions for any middleman.

Victoria Sanders, managing director Teletext Holidays, says: “It’s an exciting move for the travel industry and we are working closely with the team to drive sales in the first few weeks.”

But can it provide better holidays and better value than existing operators and travel agents in a market which is already intensely price-driven?

Lawrence Hunt, at lowcostholidays, thinks it can.

“There are many, many advantages of using easyJet,” he says.

 ”Holidays will be entirely flexible, so if you don’t want to catch a 6am flight, you needn’t. And when it is cheaper to take a nine-day package than seven, it will be easy to stay on for the longer period.”

Copyright Press Association 2011

Monarch Airlines has confirmed it will add extra flights to eight popular summer holiday destinations in May.

The carrier revealed it will offer an extra four flights a week to Gibraltar from Luton Airport from May 27, while it will also put on an additional two flights per week from Luton to Mallorca, Malaga and Alicante in Spain, and Dalaman in Turkey.

Luton Airport could be busier than normal this summer as tourists might also want to take advantage of one extra weekly flight to the Turkish resort of Bodrum and an additional service to Faro in Portugal. These services will also be available from May 27.

Anyone living in the north of England who is thinking about getting some sun in Cyprus might be interested to discover there will be an extra weekly service from Manchester Airport to Larnaca.

There will also be an extra 16,000 seats made available on Monarch flights from Gatwick to Malaga, Mallorca, Larnaca, Lanzarote, Faro and Alicante during the summer.

Monarch’s managing director, Kevin George, said: “Bookings for summer are already up 27% compared with the same time last year with demand from customers still increasing, so we are delighted to respond to this by adding over 135,000 additional seats to our flying programme this summer season.”

Copyright Press Association 2011