On the Beach, the UK’s leading online travel agent has witnessed a massive increase in bookings for cheap summer holidays abroad. This suggests that once again domestic holidays have been left behind as Brits pack their bags and escape to warmer climates.

As the UK plunges back into another recession, true British grit has prevailed and nothing can stop holidaymakers from jetting off to enjoy their well-deserved beach holidays.

The sun kissed Canary Islands are proving most popular for British holidaymakers this summer; bargain holidays to Tenerife have topped the charts with a year on year boost in bookings of 60% making it the nation’s favourite destination in 2012. Tenerife is followed closely by neighbouring hot spots, holidays to Majorca and Costa del Sol both of which have experienced a 90% increase in bookings.

This surge in bookings to popular beach destinations follow an abundance of summer holiday deals this year; for example family friendly resorts across Europe offering child free places and hoteliers discounting holidays by up to 50% when booking on all-inclusive basis.

These great value holidays continue as in-resort prices in Egypt have also decreased by an average of 20% compared to 2011, making the popular Red Sea resorts ever more desirable, resulting in a year on year bookings increase of more than 70%.

Alistair Daly, Marketing Director at On the Beach said, “With Britain focusing on the Queens Jubilee and the Olympics the UK will be saturated with tourists. Our booking data shows that Brits have chosen to avoid these crowds and take advantage of the great family holiday deals this summer to many of the nations’ favourite destinations and guarantee themselves their share of the sun. It is evident that for now, staycations have taken a back seat in 2012.”