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Italians shun foreign holiday adventures

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Italians shun foreign holiday adventures
Italy is the third most popular destination for European holidaymakers. Holiday photo: Shutterstock"

More than three-quarters of Italians choose to stay at home for their holidays, rather than travelling abroad, EU figures released on Friday show.

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Italians remain more homely than the average European, according to the Eurostat figures. Whereas 76 percent of trips made by Europeans were in their home country, the number was two percent higher for Italians.

More than a third of Italians - 36.4 percent - only went on domestic trips, the third-highest figure in Europe after the French (49.1 percent) and Spanish (40.9 percent).

But they are becoming move adverturous, with the number of foreign trips up by three percent between 2011 and 2012. The top destinations for both years were France and Spain.

While they may stay at home, Italians made sure to make the most of their holidays. In 2012, they took an average of 6.1 nights for a break compared to the 5.2-night European average.

They didn’t however reach Greek levels, where travellers topped the chart with an average of 7.5 nights away. At the other end of the scale the Latvians appeared keen on minibreaks, having the shortest holidays in Europe by going away for an average of just 3.1 nights.

Italy continued to be a draw for European holidaymakers in 2012, and was the most popular destination for Maltese and Romanian travellers. The country came in a close second for visitors from Austria, France, Germany and Slovenia.

Overall Italy was the third most popular destination for European holidaymakers, after Spain and France. 

SEE ALSO: Top 10: Italy's gay-friendly holiday hotspots

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