Credit meltdown and rising interest rates will not prevent British parents from booking that all important family summer holiday this year, according to a survey by mychild.co.uk.

According to the results 95 per cent of British families are definitely or very probably going on holiday this summer despite bleak financial reports of increases in the cost of living, house price slumps and the hold-off on credit.

More than one thousand parents responded within 24 hours to the survey carried out by family learning resource provider my child last week. It shows that taking a real summer holiday break with the kids remains top of the agenda for families.

And while one third (33.9) have already booked their holiday, over half (66.1) of those who say they intend to go away this summer have yet to do so. This means there is plenty of opportunity for travel companies looking to woo families this summer.

If this is the case those offering holidays in the UK, Spain, France, America or Greece will fare well. Of the parents surveyed 40 per cent have chosen or are thinking of choosing a UK destination, and 60 per cent said they had chosen or are thinking of holidaying somewhere outside of the UK this summer.

Top of the list for popular foreign destinations are Spain (145), followed by France (67), America (55) and Greece (36).

Denise Roberts, resource manager at my child, said: "Overall the results of the survey tie in with research conducted by Mintel two years ago which showed that families are increasingly seeing the family holiday break as a necessity rather than a luxury".

The summer school holiday period remains the peak time for family travel, particularly since the Every Lesson Counts campaign which cracked down on out-of-term-time holidays.