The UK will benefit more from domestic tourism than any other country in Europe, a major study has revealed.
The report, published by thinktank Resolution Foundation, suggests that “staycations” could be the solution to Britain’s tourism downturn.
According to the research, the UK will “benefit significantly” from a shift in overseas holidays to domestic tourism “due to the comparatively high proportion of British people who typically holiday abroad”. British tourists also spend “far more” on holidays than overseas tourists spend in the UK.
The findings
The analysis suggests that if all tourists across Europe replaced their foreign holiday with a staycation, Britain would see the most benefit.
For example, annual spending on tourism in the UK would increase by one sixth to £30.5 billion and generate an additional 300,000 jobs.
But popular overseas destinations, such as Greece and Spain, would lose out if nationals switched to staycations.
A word of warning
While staycations could go some way in plugging the UK’s tourism revenue deficit (which currently stands at £30.5 billion), the foundation warns that overall spending will still fall far below pre-pandemic levels.
Commenting on the report, Nye Cominetti, Senior Economist at the Resolution Foundation, said: “An expected boom in ‘staycation’ holidays will provide some much-needed relief for the UK’s hospitality industry this Summer, with areas such as West Wales, Devon, Cornwall and the Lake District set to do especially well from a rise in UK tourists choosing to explore their own country, rather than jet off abroad.
“But while another staycation summer will help to reduce the UK’s £30.5 billion trade tourism deficit, the hospitality sector – and the near two million workers employed in it – still face huge challenges going forward.”
He added: “Supporting the disproportionately young and low-paid workers who rely on the hospitality industry should remain a priority, especially when both the British summer – and the furlough scheme – ends.”
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