Brits spend £34bn on annual trips abroad

British holidaymakers spend £34.4 billion on annual trips abroad, with £23.3 billion spent while overseas, according to findings by Alliance & Leicester Personal Loans.

Visiting distant destinations like Australia costs a family of four an average of £8,120, for a six-week holiday of a lifetime. But although long-haul holidays may be where we spend the most per visit, trips closer to home may make less economic sense for some savvy-travellers, with Iceland topping the poll of countries where we spend the most per day. Out of the 10 destinations where we spend the most per day, six are in Europe, suggesting that taking short Continental breaks may actually be more costly than they appear.

The findings also reveal the average cost of a holiday abroad was £514 per person – or £2,056 for a family of four. Over a lifetime this amounts to a whopping £41,634 for an individual. Clearly the cost of funding a dream holiday abroad could be daunting, but a low-rate loan gives cash-savvy travellers cost-effective options of paying for it in manageable monthly sums – without piling on high levels of interest.

Richard Al-Dabbagh, Alliance & Leicester Personal Loans Manager, said:“Holidays are meant to be a time of enjoyment but often the cost of going abroad, especially for a family, can be quite substantial. Rather than worry about how to finance a holiday or shelving plans for a well earned break, British holidaymakers can opt for a personal loan that allows them the convenience of paying in manageable monthly repayments. This can easily be budgeted for over a time period to suit and there’s the comfort of knowing that whatever happens to interest rates, the payments won’t change.”

For those considering applying for a loan to help pay for the holiday of a lifetime, or switching provider, Alliance & Leicester's website alliance-leicester.co.uk, provides access to useful tools including a handy Loan Calculator, to help customers assess how much they can afford to borrow and how long they wish to spread their repayments.