A UK based online travel agency has been conducting an ongoing piece of research in the habits of British holiday makers. They have now extended their research to look specifically at trends on tourism in Britain. Inbound tourism has been found to be a major economic driver.
The UK economy appears to be more reliant on tourism than many people had previously realized. This according to UK based online travel agency https://www.sunshine.co.uk, who have been recently expanded the reach of their ongoing survey into the habits of British holiday makers. Now, they are also considering the impact of inbound tourism to this country, and the results have been very interesting.
A number of trends have been revealed through the research, including:
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That inbound tourism has grown by 5.1% in 2015, equating to 36.1 million tourists, a new record.
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That inbound tourism increased spending by 1% in 2015, equating to £22.1 billion. The average amount spent per person in 2015 was £611, which was down from the £650 per person seen in 2013.
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That the length of stays for inbound tourists rose by 3%, equating to 273 million nights. The average length of stay is 7.6 nights.
Next, Sunshine looked at where the majority of tourists came from during 2015, and found that the top 10 markets were responsible for 64% of all visits. This is down from 2005, when it was 69%. Since 2005, the top 10 markets have been unchanged, with the exception being 2015 when the USA overtook Germany. 53% of all inbound tourism spending came from the top 10 markets. The USA alone is worth £1.5 billion more than France, which is the second biggest market. Saudi Arabia and China entered the top 10 in terms of value for the first time. The top 10 markets were revealed to be:
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France
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USA
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Germany
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Irish Republic
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Spain
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Netherlands
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Italy
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Poland
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Belgium
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Australia
Sunshine also looked into which markets were growing the most, with the strongest growth coming from the United States. Between 2011 and 2015, they contributed an extra £162 million per year. China came in second. Strong growth was also seen in France, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. Taiwan, however, takes the lead in terms of percentage.
The top 5 markets showing absolute growth were:
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The USA
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China
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France
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Saudi Arabia
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The United Arab Emirates
The top 5 markets showing percentage growth were:
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Taiwan
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Israel
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Luxembourg
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China
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Argentina
Some markets were declining, however. In terms of absolute decline, the top 5 were found to be:
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Russia
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Norway
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Brazil
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Nigeria
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Lithuania
In terms of percentage decline, the top 5 were found to be:
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Russia
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Slovenia
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Serbia
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Latvia
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Lithuania
Sunshine then decided to look at why people traveled to this country, and when. They found that:
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38% visited the UK for a holiday.
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25% visited the UK for business.
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39% of trips were in relation to visiting friends or family members, and they had the longest stays as well. However, they also spent less money on average.
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31% of trips were between April and June.
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32% of trips were between July and September.
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16% of trips were between January and March.
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21% of trips were between October and December.
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For visiting friends of family members, there was an even spread of around 21% for each quarter.
In terms of travel, the most popular modes of transportation to the UK were found to be air (73%), sea (15%), and tunnel (13%).
In terms of destinations, London was clearly a hot spot. 18.6 million people visited it, spending some £11.9 billion between them, This is 54% of total spending. 40% of holiday nights were spent in London. 15.2 million people visited the rest of England. They spend some £7.5 billion between them, which equates to 34% of all spending. They also covered 49% of all visitor nights, suggesting that people go outside of London, they also stay longer. 2.6 million people went to Scotland, spending £1,7 billion. They received 8% of both visitor spend and visitor nights. 970,000 people went to Wales, spending £401 million, equating to 2% of spend and 3% of nights.