Mexico, Berlin and Australia will be among the fastest growing destinations for British travellers in 2003, according to a survey of high street travel agents.

They expect all three to be among the places to benefit from a surge of interest when they appear in new films or play host to major sporting events.

Croatia, Bulgaria and Turkey are also tipped to see an increase in the number of British visitors, as more people become aware of their relative good value.

The countries are being targeted by travel agents, who hope they can turn round a 10% fall in the number of summer holidays taken by Britons last year.

Fastest selling

The movies expected to influence travel destinations next year include the new John Malkovich thriller, Ripley's Game.

The film, which also stars Ray Winstone, is set in Berlin and is tipped to inspire people to visit the city.

It is the follow-up to the Talented Mr Ripley, which provided a similar boost to Ischia and Italy's Amalfi coast.

Mexico is expected to reap similar benefits from the film Once Upon a Time in Mexico, starring Antonio Banderas, Johnny Depp and Salma Hayek.

Interest in the country has already been heightened by the Aztecs exhibition, which has become one of the most successful ever held at London's Royal Academy of Arts.

New Zealand is already experiencing a surge of interest from potential visitors hoping to travel through some of the areas used as a backdrop in the Two Towers.

Future trips

After unprecedented numbers of Britons travelled to Japan last year for the football World Cup, 2003's big sports destinations is expected to be Australia.

Lunn Poly says the autumn's Rugby World Cup is likely to see thousands of tickets sold to fans eager to follow their team's progress through the tournament.

It said South Africa, which saw a 20% rise in visitor numbers in the first six months of 2002, would also do well in hosting of the Cricket World Cup.

The event, to be held in February and March, will see the arrival of 50,000 foreign fans, with the prospect of many planning future trips after seeing the country on television.