The pound may not be worth much abroad these days and the credit crunch is looming large – but it has not stopped thousands of people jetting away for the New Year.

Holiday-makers chose the Canary Islands and Dublin as their most popular destinations.

About 160,000 passengers will fly out of East Midlands Airport between December 19 and January 2 – about 10,000 fewer than last year.

Saturday was a popular day to fly abroad, with more than 13,000 people checking in.

Among those jetting off was James West, a 32-year-old teacher, from Leicester city centre.

He was flying to Pisa for a skiing holiday with his partner and some friends.

The group of six booked their break in September, but only changed their money two weeks ago, getting 1.02 euro for the pound. It was still about that mark at the weekend.

He said: "We got a bit stitched by the exchange rate really, but we're still determined to have a good time over New Year.

"It's a great opportunity to go abroad and sample some foreign culture on New Year's Eve.

"We are pretty lucky that all our meals were paid for with the holiday, but drinks will obviously be quite expensive – but we don't mind too much."

Mark Leach, 27, of Leicester Forest East, is heading to Sofia, in Bulgaria, with friends.

He said: "Bulgaria doesn't have the euro so, in that respect, I'm quite lucky.

"But the pound is still quite weak so I'm getting less money than I would have liked.

"It doesn't really matter though because I'm just looking forward to getting away, having a few nights out abroad and relaxing.

"I'd rather be anywhere than in England right now."

One family who had anticipated the weak pound are the Seymours, from Dunton Bassett, who are taking a short break in Berlin.

Steve, 50, is an accountant and forecasted a drop in the exchange rate.

He got £1,000 changed into euro in case the family decided to go away over the Christmas period.

He said: "We didn't actually book the holiday until last month, but I knew this would happen so I got some cash changed up in the summer.

"Now, we can have a much better holiday than if we had our money changed when we booked the flights."