Two million people are to head overseas during the Easter bank holiday, ABTA has predicted.
Although domestic tour operators have been talking up their own sales in the light of the current economic climate, overseas operators have reported strong sales with April being 20% ahead on April last year although Easter was in March last year.
ABTA chief execurtive Mark Tanzer said top spots for this Easter are Spain, the Canary Islands, Turkey, Egypt and Tunisia while Cuba is also proving popular in the light of a possible lifting of the US travel ban to the country.
Florida is also this year’s top long haul family destination.
Tanzer added: “We knew consumers would have a tendency to book late this year with many people worried about their financial situation, and not wanting to commit too far out.
“But as holiday time looms, people are indeed booking.
“It appears consumer confidence is rising, and people feel they have enough money in their pocket or just simply have had enough of worrying and have made the decision to go on holiday.”
Airports are also reporting healthy passenger numbers with nearly 300,000 set to leave from Heathrow, 270,000 from Gatwick, approximately 200,000 from Stansted and 60,000 from Luton.
A further 14,000 will depart from Southampton.
From Scotland over 200,000 are expected to be departing via the airports with 60,000 leaving from Glasgow, 70,000 from Edinburgh and 25,000 from Aberdeen.
From the north and the Midlands, 100,000 will leave from Manchester, 12,500 passengers from Leeds Bradford and approximately 200,000 from Birmingham.