Foreign holidays, which seemed just part of life as we sought temperatures, food and culture a little less familiar, were put to the back of our minds as we locked down our movements and dipped our expectations while waiting for the threat of the virus to pass.

A couple of years on, however, and those far away destinations don’t appear to have come back into view.

New research suggests British holidaymakers have increasingly turned to staycations this year amid wildfires across Europe and soaring air fares, with domestic trips proving popular again for next year. We are travelling shorter distances and not staying as long, with Edinburgh remaining in the top three destinations. Money of course is at play here but it seems a change in mindset has also taken place as the unfamiliar becomes less appealing and the roll of the foreign travel dice feels less tantalising than before.

Home, it would appear, is where the heart is.

This is of course great news for Scotland’s tourism businesses who have been hammered by the pandemic, Brexit and inflationary and fuel costs. As the pandemic kept us close to home, we appear to have found a new fondness for what lies not very far away.

East, west, home is best as our travel horizons come closer