No-frills carriers damaging domestic tourism
The UK domestic tourism industry is being threatened by the lure of low-cost holidays abroad, according to an industry expert.
TRI Hospitality Consulting joint managing director, Trevor Ward blames low cost airlines for a 7% drop in UK residents taking trips at home. He said: “The domestic tourism market is being very successfully wooed by the low cost airlines, flying to exotic locations for considerably less than the cost of travelling to a UK destination”.
Mr Ward contributed to the British Hospitality Association’s Trends and Statistics 2002 report. According to the report, last year UK residents took 58 million trips abroad, up by 2.3% from 2000. While trips abroad increased, domestic holidays fell from 175.4 million in 2000 to 163.1 million trips in 2001.
Conflicting views come from the English Tourism Council, which says domestic tourism is buoyant. A spokesperson from ETC said: “It is true to say that more people are going abroad, but the number of holidays in the UK has also increased. It is the overseas visitor numbers that are still a down, particularly from the US”.
Superbreak, a hotel reservations website for the UK and Europe, has found domestic bookings are on the up. Superbreak has reported that its busiest week was the first week in July, with an average of 5,000 calls per day to its reservations centre. Contrary to what the figures from the BHA suggest, Superbreak bookings in 2001 were more than 20% above 2000. The figures for the first six months of this year are also positive, showing a 30% increase in bookings from the same period in 2001. A spokesperson for the company said that although these figures include bookings from Europe, only 5% of its business was for bookings outside the UK, so the figures are representative of the UK market.
The spokesperson added that all-weather attractions such as the Eden Project in Cornwall, the British Airways London Eye, and Salford Quays in Manchester were proving popular, and helped boost domestic tourism.
Vegas’s Billion-Dollar Secrets – What They Don’t Want Tourists to Know
Visit Florida’s New CEO Bryan Griffin Shares His Vision for State Tourism with Graham
Chicago’s Tourism Renaissance: Graham Interviews Kristin Reynolds of Choose Chicago
Graham Talks with Cassandra McCauley of MMGY NextFactor About the Latest Industry Research
Destination International’s Andreas Weissenborn: Research, Advocacy, and Destination Impact
Graham and Don Welsh Discuss the Success of Destinations International’s Annual Conference
Graham and CEO Andre Kiwitz on Ventura Travel’s UK Move and Recruitment for the Role
Brett Laiken and Graham Discuss Florida’s Tourism Momentum and Global Appeal
Graham and Elliot Ferguson on Positioning DC as a Cultural and Inclusive Global Destination
Graham Talks to Fraser Last About His England-to-Ireland Trek for Mental Health Awareness
Kathy Nelson Tells Graham About the Honour of Hosting the World Cup and Kansas City’s Future
Graham McKenzie on Sir Richie Richardson’s Dual Passion for Golf and His Homeland, Antigua
ADS PRO 
TAP Air Portugal to operate 29 flights due to strike on December 11
Qatar Airways offers flexible payment options for European travellers
Airlines suspend Madagascar services following unrest and army revolt
Strike action set to cause travel chaos at Brussels airports
Digital Travel Reporter of the Mirror totally seduced by HotelPlanner AI Travel Agent