The report added: “Over the longer-term, the amounts spent on visits have increased broadly in line with the increases in the numbers of visits…although it should be noted that the spending is recorded at current prices and not adjusted for inflation.”

Another reason for the travel industry to be encouraged is that the reason for travel indicates people are taking more holidays.

The ONS continued: “The underlying trend for business and miscellaneous purposes for travel is fairly flat but numbers are increasing for holidays and visiting friends or relatives. For example, there were 26.8 million holiday visits and 5.5 million friends and relatives visits in 1996, compared with 45 million and 16.6 million respectively in 2016.

Spain, France, Italy, Ireland and the USA remain the top five most popular countries for UK residents to visit, accounting for 49% of all visits abroad and 46% of total spend abroad.

There were a record 14.7 million visits to Spain by UK residents in 2016, an increase of 13%. Trips to France and Turkey decreased from 8.8 million to 8.5 million and from 1.5 million to 1.1 million, respectively due to terrorist incidents in both countries.

Abta commented: “Holidays were the most common reason for travel abroad in 2016, a year which saw uncertainty created by Brexit and ongoing security concerns. People continued to value their holidays overseas, with the number of holiday visits abroad made by UK residents increasing from 42.2 million in 2015 to 45 million in 2016.”