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.

Results from a recent survey showed that approximately 46 percent of British holidaymakers were planning a holiday break during May.  A quarter of those surveyed said that they were planning a weekend break, 18 percent said they would take a full week’s holiday and 10 percent were planning just a one day getaway.

The British are also looking to enjoy a variety of activities in May as well.  16 percent of people planned to visit a cultural attraction, 13 percent would be on the beach and 12 percent intend to visit national parks.

You might imagine that we are all happy about having two bank holidays in May, however, the survey asked about Bank Holidays and two thirds of those surveyed said they wanted to see the public holidays spread more evenly throughout the year.

Even those who are planning just a short break, even if they would not be taking flights, should ensure they have travel insurance as you can still experience holiday problems in the UK and be covered.  According to PHA Travel, around 30 percent of travellers are likely to experience holiday problems.