English businesses are anticipating a
strong summer holiday period with 65%
of accommodation providers feeling “very
confident” about the summer holidays
and 47% reporting forward bookings as
“very good” – both record highs for the
survey.
Around 40% of accommodation providers
and attractions reported increased visitor
numbers in the year to date with a
further 30% maintaining performance.
Tourism Minister Tracey Crouch said:
“The number of people enjoying holidays in
England is at a record high. With our worldleading museums and galleries, beautiful
countryside and stunning coastline, it should
come as no surprise that more people are
planning staycations this summer.
“Tourism contributes an estimated £60
billion to our economy every year, so a strong
summer season is not only great news for the
sector but the whole country.”
It has been a record-breaking first four
months of the year (January to April) for
domestic holiday trips in England. From
January to April Brits took 11 million
holiday trips, 8% more compared to the
same period last year, and spent £2.8
billon, 22% up on last year and taking
both measures to record levels for this
period.
These figures come on the back of a
strong 2015 with domestic holiday trips
and spending both up 7% on the previous
year to 43.7 million holiday trips and
£10.7 billion respectively.
The number of Brits taking short-breaks
in England was up 10% compared to the
previous year with people also taking
about 4 million more short-breaks in
England than they did ten years ago.
Also in 2015 domestic seaside holiday
trips were up 7%, city holidays up 6%
and countryside holidays up 12%.
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