Research shows UK holidaymakers are ditching traditional two-week overseas holidays and instead are taking short trips abroad thanks to cheap flights offered by budget airlines and the impact of the internet.

The number of three-day foreign trips taken by UK citizens has more than trebled over the past 20 years, while the number of week-long holidays abroad has doubled.

 

In total, Britons took more than 45 million foreign holidays last year, up 18 million from 1996.

 

Budget airlines prompted numerous changes, including a drop in car ferry trips to France and an increase in flights to more distant countries.

Hotel comparison web sites also have impacted travel patterns, offering easy-to-find accommodation alternatives that are cheap and simple to book.

 

The research used the International Passenger Survey and other ONS data.