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11 mln Britons planning domestic new year holiday: official data

Xinhua, December 20, 2016 Adjust font size:

More than 11 million British people are planning a holiday in Britain over the Christmas and New Year period, figures from the official agency VisitEngland revealed Monday.

VisitEngland's Christmas Trip Tracker Survey shows that 11.7 million Britons, or 23 percent of the adult population, are planning an overnight holiday trip in the Britain this Christmas and New Year, with 9.7 million people (19 percent) planning an overnight trip in England.

British people holidaying at home during the festive period will generate almost 3 billion U.S. dollars for the country's tourism economy during this time.

VisitEngland's CEO Sally Balcombe said: "It's fantastic to see so many people planning to holiday at home over the festive season and with so much on offer throughout the country people are spoiled for choice."

Popular holiday destinations include Oxfordshire, Norwich and London.

Over the English border in Scotland, thousands of people will be gathering in capital city Edinburgh for the tradition New Year's Hogmanay celebrations.

Last year around 75,000 people attended the official Edinburgh's Hogmanay celebrations and more than 460,000 people headed to the city for the official Edinburgh Christmas events and attractions in one of the busiest holidays of the year for Edinburgh. Endit