Average Briton 'has visited seven countries'

The average Briton has visited seven countries outside of the UK in their life, according to a new survey.

The study of 2,000 people, carried out by OnePoll on behalf of London City Airport, showed that France is the most popular overseas destination with two-thirds of respondents having visited the country.

More than half had gone to Spain, the next most popular destination, followed by the USA (41 per cent), Germany (36 per cent), Greece (34 per cent), Italy and Belgium (both 33 per cent).

The survey noted some disparities between male and female travellers. Men were more likely to visit Amsterdam than women, for example, while more women had visited the sunnier destinations of Spain, Cyprus, France, Turkey and Egypt.

Younger people were also more inclined to fly abroad, the results suggested, with less than 10 per cent of those aged 45 and above going overseas in the past year compared to one in five aged less than 45.
Only a very small percentage of Britons (less than five per cent) is thought to have visited more than three quarters of the world’s countries.
Paris was the most visited capital city, with 52 per cent of those queried having been, while eight per cent of people questioned had never visited any capital city at all, including London.