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The overall number of holiday bookings has risen by 10.3% this year, a new study shows.
Hotel spending rose by 7.8%, compared with 4.5% last year.
The economic recovery at home has helped to increase Britons’ spending on holidays, with an increase of 7.5% in the first six months of this year compared with 2.4% in the same period last year.
Britons spent more on drinks, food and shopping with a 13% increase this year, 8% better than last year.
But spending by British tourists in Greece was down 20% last month, compared with the same period last year, reflecting the country’s long-running economic problems.
Barcelona beat New York and Paris as the favourite holiday destination for British travellers for the second year running.
A survey of spending habits commissioned by Barclaycard found that Dublin came fourth, followed by Rome.
New York, Dubai and Turkey rose in popularity, with New York climbing from third place last year to second, above Paris.
Turkey went up from tenth to ninth and Dubai jumped two places to seventh.
Sterling’s strength against the euro has helped Barcelona to retain its place in the survey, which was based on spending on credit and debit cards.
Barclaycard chief operating officer, Chris Wood, said: “As a cosmopolitan city by the sea, Barcelona has the best of both worlds, so it’s not surprising that it is holding steady as a favourite holiday destination.”
Although Britons are still the biggest group by nationality visiting Spain, the rising strength of the dollar against the euro has generated a 21% increase in Americans spending their holidays in the country, the Times reported.