New data from the Office for National Statistics International Passenger Survey for 2018 show:
- 75% of international visits by UK residents in 2018 were to EU countries.
- Spain, France, Italy, the USA and Ireland were top 5 destinations.
- Spain was the country most visited by UK residents - 15.6M visits, mostly for holidays - but visit numbers were down by 2% vs 2017 - the first decrease since 2009.
- Greatest percentagewise market shrinkage occurred for Australia (-21%) and Poland (-7%).
- Greatest market growth occurred for Turkey and Tunisia, likely related to lower holiday prices vs. Spain, France, Italy.