The table gives information about the UK residents’ total number of trips to other countries, while the line graph illustrates the purposes of these trips from 1989 to 2001.
Overall, the majority of the UK residents travelled to other countries on holidays, with other three purposes’ figures being considerably lower than that of holidays. The total number of trips fell by the end of the period, following a consistent growth.
The figure for holidays started at a much higher point than the other three categories, at 30 million trips in 1989. Its figure then increased considerably, peaking at 50 million trips in 1998, followed by a sharp fall to just under 40 million trips in 2001. Despite starting at similar points and increasing consistently, the figures for family visits and other purposes diverged after 1995, with family visits’ figure rising to around 12 million trips, while that of other purposes bottomed out at roughly 2 million trips. The number of business trips rose to its highest level of 10 million trips in 1995, before declining to its starting point of just under 10 million trips in 2001.
The total number of trips to other countries by UK residents was 47 million at the beginning of the period. Its number then increased consistently, reaching its peak at 73.5 million trips in 1998, before declining to 61 million trips in 2001.