The Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) has released figures showing that for foreign visitors, Edinburgh is the second most popular destination with the most dominant destination in the UK being the traditional capital, London.

Indeed, Edinburgh beat strong competition from other British cities, including Glasgow, Birmingham and Manchester.

For domestic visitors, London is still the most popular city break destination, followed in close second by Blackpool, leaving Edinburgh in third place.

Tony Wright, the chief exec of VisitBritain, said:

“Our international visitors’ choice of destination is heavily influenced by the increasing number of flights now arriving into our capitals and regional cities. For Britons, while city destinations are increasingly popular, it’s obvious that we still have an abiding affection for the traditional seaside holiday.”

He also said that the market for city breaks is becoming increasingly popular although it still depends upon basic aspects such as the price and availability of cheap flights.

According to ABTA (the Association of British Travel Agents), around 1.9 million Brits are set to go abroad this Bank Holiday weekend.  This is a combination of the poor weather forecast and the school half term breaks.

As usual, it is not surprising to note that Spain is the most popular holiday destination with its cheap flights, followed closely by the Canary and Balearic islands.  In addition, other popular mainsteam destinations include Italy, Egypt, Greece and Turkey.

City breaks are still popular for short bargain holidays, including the likes of Paris, Dublin, Rome, Amsterdam and even New York.

President of ABTA, Justin Fleming, stated: “Much has been said about the credit crunch this year, but there is real strength in the travel industry as is shown by the number of people leaving the country this weekend.  Many of our members are reporting good financial results against a steady increase in bookings.”

Bargain holidays are still very much in demand and the Brits do love their Bank Holiday weekends.