The number of Britons visiting North America fell last year, despite a favourable exchange rate and strong competition between airlines on routes across the Atlantic.
Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed a dip of nine per cent in the number of visits made by UK residents to North America between January and November last year.
Conversely the number of North Americans visiting the UK rose, with an increase of seven per cent to 4.5 million, over the same 11 months of the year when compared to 2005.
It is believed that one of the main reasons behind the fall in UK visits to North America is the increased security measures put in place at US airports and the delay and confusion this has caused.
Other statistics released by the ONS show that during the 12 months ending November 2006 UK residents made just over 68 million trips abroad, an increase of two per cent. While travel to the UK by overseas residents rose by six per cent over the same period to 31.9 million.
