Most people 'planning overseas Xmas break'

Overseas Christmas breaks are at the top of winter travel plans for 60 per cent of Britons, it has emerged.

According to a poll by search engine Kayak.co.uk, most people are hoping to spend some time away from the chaos of the British Christmas, with 37 per cent admitting that they would travel for as long as ten hours to get to their dream destination.

Business development director at Kayak.co.uk Annie Wilson said that the change in attitudes could be due to the evolving views on the holiday period itself, with 70 per cent admitting that they disliked the festive interlude.

Ms Wilson said: "Christmas is still a traditional time to be with family, but we’re seeing a huge shift in how and where people are choosing to celebrate."

She added that British Christmas culture was changing from "homebound winter wonderland" to "nomadic winter wanderlust", with some perhaps interested in taking the ferry to Spain.

Sean Tipton of Abta recently noted that people were not deterred by the recession when planning a holiday, commenting that sales figures of holidays had hardly dropped during the last 12 months.

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6 November 2008