Almost 1m people have scrapped plans to travel abroad in favour of a holiday at home in the UK following the terror attacks on the US, a survey said today.

The survey by the English Tourism Council found that one in 10 people in the country said the attacks had altered their holiday plans. Seven hundred thousand people, or 15%, had cancelled their holidays and more than 1m people, or 25%, had postponed their trip abroad until later.

Another 2m people said they would not be making firm holiday plans until the situation was clearer. The survey findings confirmed reports of a slump in business for tour operators and airlines providing overseas holidays - many of whom had now switched to selling UK-based packages. The crisis could, however, provide a much-needed boost for domestic tourism following the devastating effect of foot-and-mouth disease, the ETC said.

Chief executive, Mary Lynch, said: "The impact of the terrorist attacks on September 11 has been enormous. But we could take the edge off some of the worst effects on tourism by making it easier for people to holiday at home."

But for those willing to go away, America still tops the list of destinations Britons most want to visit, despite the September 11 attacks, another survey showed. The US (12%) pipped Australia (11%) in a Marks & Spencer financial services poll. America is even more popular with business travellers, with more than one in five (22%) perfectly happy to holiday across the Atlantic.

The poll was conducted in the first week of October this year and showed that, among UK travellers, the Welsh were most keen to travel to America. The survey of 2,000 people also revealed that Scots were most likely to holiday in the UK; 12% of 16 to 24-year-olds fancy a trip to Ibiza; and Spain (7%) and the UK (6%) were the next most-popular destinations after America and Australia.