Monday January 23, 2017
Research by travel company, Travelzoo has found that of over 50% of the 1,200 British people surveyed, were considering the UK or Western Europe for their main holiday in 2017. Of those, 24% would take their holiday in England, 6% in Scotland, 4% in Wales and 3% in Ireland.
With the turbulence of 2016, many British holidaymakers opted to join the trend of a ‘staycation’, staying here in the UK for their holiday. 29% of Brits surveyed by Travelzoo said that they had spent their holiday here in 2016, with even more predicted for this year.
According to Visit England, 7.3 million Brits holidayed in the UK in the first quarter of 2016 – a 10% rise on the same period in 2015.
Travel buddy site, TourBar, found that a staycation in the UK was ranked number one in a study of those heading on a trip alone this winter, with 9.6% of UK members choosing to travel solo here in Britain.
The Great British Tourism Survey revealed that London received 2.8 million visitors between January and March 2016, who spent £657 million and occupied 6.5 million bed nights, an increase of 27% on the same period in 2015. In addition to overseas tourists, the increase in Brits visiting the capital as tourists is likely to have impacted this growth.
There are many reasons that the British people are turning to a staycation. Other than cost, factors like the history, sights and ease of holidaying in Britain make it easy to see why we are choosing to stay. Although we may not always have the nicest weather, and it won’t feel quite as exotic as going abroad, but many of us still have a fantastic time visiting one of our many unique cities or towns.
With more people staying here for their holidays, hospitality and catering establishments can benefit from increased visitors this year.
