2014 travel spend figures highlight Brits’ favourite holiday hotspots

Data from Centtrip has revealed where Brits spent most of their money abroad last year; highlighting the key travel destinations that attract regular holidaymakers.

Brits spent a total of £35.5 billion whilst holidaying abroad last year, a significant 11.7% increase on figures from 2010 with travel expenditure rising a massive £3.7 billion in that time.

Brian Jamieson, Centrrip’s Co-founder and Managing Director, explained that this expenditure is increasing because more people are taking holidays overseas more often.

However, the average holidaymaker still wants to get a good deal and Mr Jamieson urged travellers to do what they can to keep individual costs down.

“As people visit more countries, they need to make sure they are getting a fair deal when buying foreign currency, and keep charges down to a minimum,” he said.

Most popular destinations for Brits

As well as indicating the level at which Brits now travel and spend money abroad, the data also identified top destinations where British travellers are more likely to open their wallets.

Traditional holiday hotspots such as Spain and the USA returned high results as expected but there were also some more surprising entries to the list.

Romania, for example, witnessed an incredible 114% increase in travel spending between 2010 and 2014. This meant that Brits spent an extra £102 million at this destination last year.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Lithuania also experienced particularly prominent growth in their travel spending from British tourists – up by almost three-quarters (74%).

A little closer to home and Norway is emerging as a key European destination with spending rising 69% since 2010.

Mexico also attracted 60% more expenditure as Southern America continues to grow as a key destination.

Unsurprisingly, Spain remained Brits’ favourite destination overall with a massive £6.14 billion spent here alone in 2014. This is the most for any country in the world and beat other popular hotspots such as the USA, France and Italy by a considerably margin.

Travel spending by Brits equated to respective figures of £3.91 billion, £3.51 billion and £1.68 billion for these countries in 2014 as tourists continued to return to familiar and well-loved destinations.

If you are planning to spend your money abroad this year then remember to arrange budget travel insurance before you leave to protect your cash

Date Created: 02/07/2015