Where do Brits go on holiday?: Popular travel destinations

We analysed the most recent outbound tourism statistics to get some insight into the travel industry as it stands today. Read on to see how many trips abroad people in the UK take and where Brits go on holiday. With a number of credit cards that don’t charge for overseas transactions, you can also see how much Brits are spending abroad!

Outbound tourism statistics: Highlights

Spain is the most popular travel destination for Brits, with 17.8 million trips made in 2023.
France, Italy, Greece and Portugal make up the rest of the top 5 travel destinations for Brits – all of the top 5 are in Europe.
The USA is the top travel destination for Brits outside of Europe, with 3.9 million visits in 2023.
UK residents made a total of 86.2 million trips abroad in 2023, up from 71.8 million in 2022.
Holidays were the top reason for Brits travelling abroad, with 55.5 million holidays taken in 2023.
In 2023, UK residents spent an estimated £72.4 billion overseas.

How many Brits travel abroad each year?

In 2023, Brits made 86.2 million trips overseas, up 21% from the 71.8 million visits made by Brits in 2022. This is still slightly less than the peak number of visits made before the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019, which was 93.1 million.

Graph
Table

Year	Number of visits abroad by UK residents
2019	93,086,000
2020	23,827,000
2021	19,142,000
2022	70,950,000
2023	86,205,000

What are the most popular holiday destinations?

Spain is the most popular travel destination for Brits, with an estimated 17.8 million residents taking a trip here in 2023. It is followed by France, which had 9.2 million visitors from the UK in 2023, and Italy, which had 4.9 million visitors from the UK in 2023. Italy has overtaken Greece in popularity since 2022.

The top ten destinations for Brits are:

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

More than 3 in 4 visits abroad (77%) from the UK in 2023 were to Europe, making up 66.7 million trips. 4.5 million trips abroad were to North America, which made up 5% of trips.

What are the top reasons for travelling abroad?

Holidays were the most popular reason for travelling abroad in 2023, with 55.5 million holidays making up 64% of all trips abroad. 22.5 million visits were also made to friends and family overseas, while there were 6.3 million international business trips.

Graph
Table

Purpose of visit	Number of visits
Holiday	55,529,000
Visit friends or relatives	22,484,000
Business	6,265,000
Miscellaneous	1,928,000
All visits	86,205,000

Overseas spending by Brits

In 2023, UK residents spent an estimated £72.4 billion overseas compared to only £58.4 billion in 2022. Most spending was done on holidays (70%), followed by visits to friends and family (20%) and business trips (8%). Around 2% of total spending abroad came from trips with miscellaneous purposes.

Click here for more research. For all media enquiries, please contact –

Matt Mckenna
UK Head of Communications
T: +44 20 8191 8806

Thank you for your feedback!

To make sure you get accurate and helpful information, this guide has been edited by Joselle Delos Reyes as part of our fact-checking process.

Written by

Emily Herring

Publisher

Emily Herring is a Publisher at Finder specialising in credit-based products including credit cards and business and personal loans. Emily has recently joined the Investments team. She has a Masters in Creative Writing & Publishing and a Bachelor of Arts in Communication & Media. See full bio

Emily's expertise

Emily has written 146 Finder guides across topics including:

Loans & credit cards
Building credit

Co-written by

Sophie Barber

Author

Sophie Barber is a content marketing manager for Finder in the UK after previously working as a content manager at a digital marketing agency. She has over 5 years experience in writing and publishing clear, concise and informative online articles for a variety of websites. See full bio

Sophie's expertise

Sophie has written 77 Finder guides across topics including:

Publishing original personal finance research
Creating data-led statistics pages to highlight industry trends
Cost of living and money saving tips

More resources on Finder

Compare the best cashback credit cards Compare platinum credit cards

More guides on Finder

Credit card minimum repayment calculator
Use our calculator to find out how long it would take to clear your credit card balance by making the minimum required payments vs paying a fixed amount each month.
What is the average credit card APR in the UK?
We look at the average APR on credit cards in the UK and how credit card interest rates have changed over time.
Credit card fraud statistics: How common is it in the UK?
£551.3 million was lost to credit, debit and payment card fraud in the UK in 2023. We look at the latest statistics on card fraud in the UK.
Onmo Credit Card review: Features & costs scored
Onmo is making its debut into the credit card market with its new card offering limits starting from £200. Here’s what we know so far.
What is the average credit score in the UK?
What is the average credit score in the UK and how many Brits are estimated to be ‘credit invisible’?
Yonder Credit Card review
The Yonder credit card has launched in the UK, using open banking to create a personalised picture of your spending habits to help you get the most out of your credit card.
Keebo credit card review
Keebo has launched the UK’s first open-banking credit card, but how does it weigh up against other credit building cards?
Zempler Credit Card (formerly Cashplus) review
This invitation-only credit card makes a solid option if you’re trying to improve your credit score. Here’s how it works.
Compare the best cashback credit cards
Get cashback on your purchases with a cashback credit card. Redeem rewards points for cashback or gift cards. Find out more in our guide.
Compare 0% purchase credit cards
Buy now and pay interest later with a 0% purchase credit card. Compare current offers with 0% p.a. on purchases.