Sykes Holiday Cottages has claimed record bookings in May driven by good weather and the royal wedding.
The 16% year-on-year increase came as the company released results of research showing that almost three-quarters of people plan a domestic holiday this year, up from 56% who in 2017.
Respondents cited many reasons for choosing a staycation over a trip abroad.
More than half (54%) believe it’s much easier than braving airport security, and 48% stay in the UK to save money.
Nearly half (46%) think there is no need to travel elsewhere as Britain has enough beautiful destinations of its own, and almost one in five (16%) do not want to be separated from their pets.
The top three ways to staycation are taking a cottage break (46%), city breaks (43%) and luxury hotel and spa stays (35%).
Yarmouth on the Isle of Wight is rated as the UK’s most popular holiday destination, with other seaside towns like Whitby, Filey and Falmouth making the top ten, according to the study.
The Sykes staycation index analysed bookings data and consumer research to reveal the top ten most popular UK destinations:
Yarmouth, Isle of Wight
Whitby, North Yorkshire
Filey, North Yorkshire
Falmouth, Cornwall
Windermere, Cumbria
Scarborough, North Yorkshire
Pickering, North Yorkshire
Benllech, North Wales
Beadnell, Northumberland
Llandudno, North Wales
Chief executive, Graham Donoghue, said: “Last month we enjoyed the best May for bookings since the company began, with reservations up 16% year-on-year.
“This is thanks in part to the country’s recent warmer weather, particularly over the bank holidays, which is unsurprisingly a driver in Brits’ propensity to book holidays at home.
“Our May bookings and website traffic already support Mintel and Euromonitor predictions of a post-royal wedding boost in British tourism, particularly from the US.
“In the week of the royal wedding, visits to the website from the US were up 66% on last year and, over the wedding weekend, traffic to our Windsor landing page increased by 165%.”
He added: “This all fits into a longer-term trend towards UK breaks, with VisitBritain figures showing that 59 million staycations were taken last year, as the weak pound drove up the price of foreign family holidays.”