According to figures from the UK’s Government’s Office for National Statistics, Spain was the most popular destination for residents of the UK in 2002.

British people made 12.6m visits to Spain, up 7% on 2001, compared with the 11.7m (down 2%) people who visited France – in second place. Third most visited country by the British was the Republic of Ireland with 4m UK visitors, followed by the US with 3.7m.

Receiving visitors, the UK received most visitors from the US with 3.7m visits to the UK, followed by France with 3m; Germany, 2.5m; the Republic of Ireland, 2.3m and the Netherlands with 1.4m.

The survey also showed that tourist numbers in the last quarter of 2002 have returned to similar levels in the same period of 2000.