More people are going on holiday than at any time in the past five years despite Brexit - but less people are visiting beaches over terror fears

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More people are going on holiday than at any time in the past five years despite terror attacks and the impact of Brexit, according to a study. 

However, beach holidays have fallen in popularity due to fears over terrorism, research shows. 

It has been claimed that more British people have taken holidays over the past 12 months than at any time since 2011.  

More British people have taken holidays over the last 12 months than at any time since 2011

The study, by travel industry group Abta, shows that in the 12 months to August there was an overall increase in the number of people taking an overnight trip at home or abroad, up from 77 per cent to 86 per cent.

The rise in figures comes despite a number of events disrupting the travel industry in the past 12 months, such as terror attacks in Paris, Nice and Brussels, an attempted coup in Turkey, the collapse of Low Cost Holidays, the spread of the Zika virus and the weakening of the pound following the EU referendum.  

It represents the highest figure since 2011, when 90 per cent of people booked at least one break, although some of the holidays taken recently would have been booked before the EU referendum took place.

The average number of holidays taken per person per year also rose over the past year, from 3.2 to 3.4.

The study also found that Brits were turning their backs on the traditional beach holiday though, because of concerns about terrorism.

New research has shown that just 38 per cent of UK holidaymakers took a beach break in the 12 months to August, down from 50 per cent at the same time last year.

Brits are turning their backs on the traditional beach holiday because of concerns about terrorism. Tunisia (pictured) is effectively closed to UK tourists due to Foreign Office travel advice 

Experts have claimed this was due to a combination of people avoiding some resorts due to terror threats and other destinations being oversubscribed. 

Tunisia is effectively closed to UK tourists due to Foreign Office travel advice issued in the wake of the Sousse massacre in June 2015, while Egypt visitor numbers have been hit by the ban on flights to the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.

A military coup was quashed in Turkey in July.

Many people wanted to take trips in Spain or Portugal instead, but a number of resorts were fully booked.

There has also been a surge in the number of people taking a domestic holiday, up from 64 per cent in 2015 to 71 per cent.

This stops a three-year decline and matches the figure last recorded during the year of the London Olympics in 2012.

There has been a surge in the number of people taking a domestic holiday in the UK (pictured: Whitestone Cove and Bedruthan Steps in Cornwall) 

Young families with at least one child under five took the most UK holidays, with over a quarter going on more than four domestic trips.

Over half the population (56 per cent) took a holiday abroad in the last year, up two percentage points on 2015.

This was fuelled by millennials and baby boomers, with people aged 25-34 and 55-64 the most likely to take more than four foreign holidays in a year. 

Abta's director of brand and business development, Victoria Bacon, said: 'The traditionally popular beach holiday destinations Tunisia, Egypt and Turkey have obviously had difficult years, either due to changes in Foreign Office advice or a perceived threat of terrorism, while some resorts in the western Mediterranean have been stretched to capacity over summer 2016.

The traditionally popular beach holiday destinations of Tunisia, Egypt (pictured) and Turkey have had difficult years

'The survey suggests that British holidaymakers are willing to consider other types of holiday as an alternative to the traditional two-week beach vacation.

'The good news for the beach holiday is that 44 per cent of Brits say that they plan to take one in the next 12 months.'

The research, based on a poll of 1,962 UK consumers, also found that almost half are quite likely or very likely to visit a country they have never been to before in the next 12 months, compared with just 36 per cent who said the same thing in 2015.