Recession causes fall in foreign trips

TRIPS abroad fell by more than 15 per cent while the UK was gripped by recession, new figures have revealed.

Both business and holiday flights saw a dramatic decline between 2008 and 2009, while Britons also cut back on travel by sea and through the Channel Tunnel.

People also made fewer domestic journeys as the nation tightened its purse strings. The figures, released by the Office for National Statistics, show a total of 58.6 million foreign trips were made by UK residents in 2009.

The biggest fall was in flights, which dropped by 16.6 per cent. Travel through the Channel Tunnel decreased by 8.3 per cent and journeys by sea fell by 6.2 per cent.

Jen Beaumont, editor of the Social Trends report, said: "As the figures show, people made fewer journeys between 2008 and 2009 across all transport including rail, air and sea."