Visitors flocked to Brighton and Hove to spend Christmas by the sea.

Guest numbers at hotels across the city were up on last year, when the September 11 terrorist attacks saw a worldwide slump in overseas travellers.

Following a successful Christmas period, most of the major hotels are also fully booked for New Year's Eve.

On Christmas Day, just more than 300 visitors from across the world stayed at The Grand hotel and on New Year's Eve the hotel will be full, with 400 guests booked in.

Richard Baker has been manager at The Grand in King's Road since 1984 and said that although the hotel had seen a steady year-on-year rise in visitor numbers, there were fears memories of September 11 may still put people off travelling.

He said: "Over the Christmas period we had a few rooms empty but, despite that, we were still about 20 per cent up on last year.

"Speaking to many of the guests who stayed on our Christmas package, they all seemed very impressed with Brighton."

At the Brighton Metropole in King's Road, 400 people enjoyed Christmas lunch, up ten per cent on last year.

The hotel was also booked up every weekend of December and is fully booked for New Year's Eve.

Director of Operations Brendan Shannon said: "It has been a very successful year."

For the second year running, the hotel will host a ball on New Year's Eve, which 800 people are expected to attend.

Even hotels with no New Year's Eve entertainment planned, such as Queen's Hotel in King's Road, are fully booked.

Gatwick was quieter than expected during the festive period, although the number of travellers jetting to sunny climes was still up on last year.

According to Gatwick terminal manager Phil Blum, the top five Christmas destinations this year were Orlando, home to Disney World, Tenerife, Dublin, Malaga and Amsterdam.