Convention Special: Recession boosts domestic travel
VisitEngland and VisitBritain will learn later this week that their budgets have been cut in the Government spending review, but the recession is leading to more people taking domestic holidays.
“I wouldn’t say the recession is benefiting us but the economy is definitely a driving factor to get people to stay at home,” said Sarah Long, spokeswoman for VisitEngland.
“We’ve analysed the trends and there are ‘switchers’, which are people who are reluctantly switching from an overseas holiday to a UK holiday and others, perhaps younger people, who are finding new things to do in the UK.
“We know that Brits will also travel overseas if they can, but holidays in Britain are now very much part of the mix.”
Long said that domestic tourism was set to increase by 5%, creating an additional 225,000 jobs, over the next 10 years.
“There is a lot of talk about overseas markets, but we feel there is huge potential in the UK. Three out of every four pounds spent on domestic holidays are by Brits. This year we expect tourism numbers to be on a par with last year," she said.
Geoff Cowley, managing director of Hoseasons Group, which has around two million holidaymakers each year, said the late booking market was more intense this year than ever before.
“People were booking in August for August. It was a case of what have you got for tomorrow and how much is it going to cost,” he said.
Hoseasons is expanding its number of properties in the upmarket autograph range from 8 to 13 next year.
By Jeremy Skidmore
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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