hospitalitytoday.com | 29
Number of European tourists
visting UK down
Data from the British Hospitality
Association’s (BHA) Travel Monitor has
shown inbound passengers declined 2%
year on year in May 2017.
This is a significant slowdown in growth
compared to the 28% rise of inbound
tourists to the UK in the first four
months of 2017.
Inbound passenger numbers were also
down versus May 2015, driven by a 10%
decline in passengers from Europe.
A factor in the decline of Europeans
visiting the UK could a be a short-term
impact of the recent terror attacks in
London and Manchester.
The BHA’s Travel Monitor showed a
decline in European visitors was partially
offset by robust growth from North
America up 35%.
“The lack of regulation is a concern, not just
for traditional accommodation providers,
but especially for cities and residents.
“In addition, consumers’ rights and safety
should be protected by regulation but if
Airbnb guests encounter a problem, they
have to rely on improvised measures by
the platform.”
Dirk Bakker, Head of EMEA Hotels at
Colliers International says: “Airbnb is
no longer just an accommodation site for
individuals letting out their ow n homes.
People are now buying residential properties
specifically for Airbnb, which has the
potential to dilute neighbourhoods and
become a social issue for residential areas,
creating transient zones.
“This is already evident in Amsterdam and
Barcelona for example and local councils are
taking great steps to navigate these issues.”
The differentiation in inbound tourism
growth from the two continents could
show long-haul travel holding up better
in the wake of the terrorist incidents due
to the longer booker period to travel.
Despite the 2% fall in visitor numbers,
overall UK spend by overseas residents
grew 5% - likely due to growth of
inbound tourism from North America.
Ufi Ibrahim, Chief Executive of the BHA
said: “We launched the BHA Travel Monitor
so that we can provide through detailed
and structured analysis of passenger data,
a true picture of hospitality and tourism
performance.
“Our analysis has shown that while inbound
tourism has grown significantly, there
may be a short-term drop due to the tragic
terrorist incidents earlier this year.”