ABTA – The Travel Association estimates 2 million British holidaymakers are set to take advantage of the two bank holidays over the period of 2-5 June and head off overseas. Many savvy travellers realised that by booking three days leave they could have a nine day break from work which has given a substantial boost to business and the bank holidays also coincide with school half term.

Many holidaymakers are taking advantage of the weak Euro heading off to Spain, with the Canary and Balearic Islands and the Costa del Sol the most popular areas and Greece selling well. For those looking for last minute bargains Cyprus, Tunisia and Turkey offer excellent deals, with temperatures in the very late twenties and guaranteed sunshine. Further afield families are flocking to Florida to sample some of the world’s best theme parks and Mexico for its snow white beaches.

Foreign city beaks are popular at this time of the year with the weather being comfortable and the crowds manageable, Paris, Dublin, Amsterdam, Rome and New York are the top five choices.

According to an independent YouGov survey conducted for ABTA over 4 million Brits will be taking a domestic holiday and approximately 2.5m are also intending to hold a Jubilee party.

Of course London will dominate with thousands heading to the capital to participate in the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations. The weather over the long weekend is set to be mixed but the seaside resorts of Brighton and Blackpool will be busy as always, with Edinburgh and Manchester leading the way for city breaks outside of London. ABTA Members are also reporting strong bookings for the Channel Islands and Isles of Man and Wight.

Airports are reporting good numbers and 410,000 will leave from Heathrow, 200,000 from Gatwick, 120,000 from Stansted and 60,000 from Luton. Over 100,000 will also be departing from the Scottish airports.

From the North and the Midlands, 140,000 will leave from Manchester and 60,000 from Birmingham.

Other regional airports and ferry terminals will also be extremely busy over the weekend and Eurostar is reporting good passenger numbers with tens of thousands leaving the country this way.

Mark Tanzer ABTA Chief Executive said:  “Millions of us will be taking a break in the UK with thousands flocking to London to join in the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations. But the long weekend provided by the extra bank holidays has also given millions of holidaymakers the opportunity to head off overseas and take advantage of the pound’s strength against the Euro.”