“The industry is currently facing the perfect
storm in terms of the operating costs with
rising business rates and the UK being on
average twice the tourism VAT rate than
that across Europe. With now a General
Election on the horizon, it is imperative
that all the political parties understand
the important part that the fourth largest
industry plays, and whichever the incoming
government is, it considers the needs of the
industry in its political agenda.”
Domestic tourism set for
further growth
The British Tourism & Travel Show’s
industry survey reports a continued
rise in domestic tourism.
The survey found that 67% of respondents
saw an increase in domestic visitor
numbers and bookings in 2016, and 57%
who completed the survey think that
customer spending habits will improve
over the next year.
78% are feeling either very or fairly
optimistic about the future of the
domestic travel trade.
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A general consensus is that Brexit will
continue to have an influence on future
consumer spending (with mixed opinions
on the actual impact of the Brexit vote
on business’ prospects). When asked
specifically about the Brexit vote: 39%
said last year’s referendum result had
no discernible impact on their business,
while 28% reported a positive impact. The
remaining 33%, many of whom also cater
to the outbound tourism market, said
it was already having a negative effect.
Notably, many respondents commented
that it may be ‘too early to tell.’
An increase in staycations, more last
minute bookings, a rise in inbound tourism
(from China, the US and Canada, for
example), a greater focus on experiential
holidays and breaks, a rise in digitisation,
more away days, and exploring lesser
known locations outside of London, have
been identified as some of the key trends
to watch, among others.