British tourists are set to shun traditional European holiday destinations in 2009 after a new report revealed that the falling value of the pound has led to an increase in bookings to countries outside the Eurozone.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) carried out the survey, which showed that the number of British people travelling to Egypt increased by more than a third in the last year, while the number of visits to Turkey rose by 32 per cent. Destinations which have been identified by the FCO and ABTA 2009 Travel Trends Report as holiday hotspots for 2009 include Mexico, Egypt, Turkey and Israel, as well as Cuba, Dubai, Croatia and Australia.

ABTA's Francis Tuke said: "Over the past few years we have seen travellers becoming more adventurous and travelling further afield and this will continue in 2009 as non-eurozone countries will offer very good value for money – often at very high standards."