Travelport’s data showed there were 320,000 advance flight bookings to the US for travel between 28 June and 8 September – well ahead of second-placed India with just under 87,000 over the same period.

United Arab Emirates ranked third in the list of the top 10 most popular summer destinations with just under 78,800 forward bookings, pipping Canada with 77,100 bookings.

Paul Broughton, Travelport’s vice-president and managing director for Northern Europe, said: “To put just how popular the US is into perspective, to date we’ve seen more advance flight bookings made from the UK to the US over the summer than to the rest of the top five most popular long-haul destinations combined.” 

The destination to see the largest year-on-year rise was China with 29,900 bookings – up by 13% on the same period in 2018. South Africa also saw a 7% rise year-on-year to 29,600 bookings from the UK.

“It was interesting to see China become a top 10 long-haul summer destination for UK travellers this year, having sat just outside in 11th place last year,” added Broughton.

“Interest in the country seems to be rising. We are starting to see this translate into increased booking volume, and I expect this trend to continue in the years to come as more people recognise just how much the country has to offer tourists.”