Hospitality businesses prepare to take advantage of £2.1bn Christmas domestic tourism spend
The figures show 24 per cent of people in Britain will make at least one overnight trip in the UK over the festive period with 9.8 million of those expected to travel to somewhere in England.
In the survey, carried out earlier this month, just 1.5 million people (less than four per cent) said they would be holidaying abroad over Christmas and New Year.
Domestic tourism
James Berresford, chief executive of Visit England, revealed 35 per cent of people planning a domestic trip over the next two weeks would be spending more nights away from home than a year ago.
“It’s great to see that so many people are planning to visit another part of the country with a break over the festive period," he said. "Wherever you stay in England there is always something exciting to see or do right on the doorstep, and this is never truer than at Christmas!"
In the continued difficult economic climate domestic tourism and the spend that comes with it is crucial to the UK economy with several high-profile campaigns launched in the last year to sell the benefits of holidaying at home.
Hospitality hopes
Hospitality businesses will be hoping a portion of the increased domestic tourism spend over the festive period will be setting their tills ringing. Earlier this year it was revealed restaurants and bars were the second most popular reason for day trips within the UK - the sectors inspired 250 million trips in 2011.
The national tourist board also revealed that many Brits have already made plans for seasonal activities - many of which are expected to translate into increased trade for hotels, restaurants and pubs and bars.
- 45 per cent intend to visit the sales.
- 30 per cent are planning a trip to a Christmas market.
- 19 per cent will be taking part in other Christmas pursuits such as ice skating, seeing a pantomime or visiting Father Christmas.
As always, Christmas remains a crucial period for the hospitality industry - planning is the key to success as we outlined in our special four-part feature earlier this year.
What is your business planning to do for Christmas, have you got anything unusual planned and do you expect to take advantage of the increased tourism spend? Let us know by leaving a comment at the bottom of this page.
