The Great Britain Tourism Survey by VisitEngland reveals record breaking performance for domestic tourism in the first quarter of the year

LONDON, 2015-7-30 — /Travel PR News/ — The latest results from the Great Britain Tourism Survey (GBTS) published today by VisitEngland reveal a record breaking performance for domestic tourism in the first quarter of the year.

Key figures include:

• 28.7 million trips recorded in England between January and April this year, an 18% increase YOY, the highest number of trips recorded during the first quarter since the survey began in 2006.
• 18% increase in expenditure, in total to almost £5 billion compared to 2014.
• The number of holidays taken in the first four months of 2015 increased by 7% – the best performance for holidays taken in England for this period since 2012.
• For the month of April the number of domestic overnight trips increased for the fourth consecutive month with a 10% increase to 9 million trips taken and 5% increase in spend to £1.5bn. This is the best April performance since 2012.

These figures are a significant improvement on last year, which dipped due to the severe weather conditions and flooding at the beginning of the year.  VisitEngland’s latest Tourism Business Monitor supports the findings of this month’s GBTS. Nearly half of accommodation providers and 56% of attractions have reported experiencing an increase in visitors for the year to May. Looking ahead, over nine in 10 of the businesses surveyed remain confident about the school summer holiday period. This is particularly true amongst accommodation providers who’ve reported high numbers of advanced bookings.

The early months of the year were characterised by above average weather and a number of high profile anniversaries including the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta and the 50th anniversary of Winston Churchill and events including the first ever ‘Tour de Yorkshire’ in May, hundreds of family friendly Easter activities across the country in April and a host of music, food and walking festivals, all contributing to high levels of confidence amongst businesses. The industry also celebrated all that’s great about tourism in England with English Tourism Week which took place from 14 – 22 March.

VisitEngland kick-started the holiday season with a new £4 million Government-funded Holidays at Home are GREAT campaign featuring Aardman’s well-known BAFTA-winning character Shaun the Sheep going on holiday in destinations across the UK with his farmyard friends. Shaun the Sheep has appeared in a TV advertisement and a poster campaign encouraging consumers to book a holiday through their local travel agent.  The Holidays at Home are GREAT campaign has provided a significant boost to domestic tourism, generating over half a billion (£520.6 million) in incremental spend for the domestic tourism industry and over two million domestic overnight holiday trips since it was launched in 2012.

VisitEngland’s Chief Executive Officer, James Berresford, said: “These results tell a positive story for the first quarter as we approach the summer holiday season. The tourism industry’s confidence demonstrates the resilience of businesses who bounced-back after the severe weather conditions that impacted destinations at the beginning of last year. We know that England has a fantastic range of standout product and generates high levels of satisfaction for visitors. With  the plethora of sporting, cultural and foodie events taking place across the country this summer we hope this strong performance will continue to boost the industry – and we will continue to work with our partners to ensure we remain globally competitive, a world-class destination that entices domestic and international visitors.”

Tourism Minister, Tracey Crouch, said: “The growing numbers of people making the most of England’s world-beating destinations is brilliant news for the industry and our economy as a whole.  We are committed to supporting the tourism industry, helping it to grow and creating jobs throughout the country. I look forward to working with the industry to implement our new 5 Point Plan to further strengthen tourism across the UK.”

There are a number of high profile sporting events happening across England which tourism businesses can take advantage of during the next few months including Ride London, Cowes Week, Tour of Britain, The Great North Run and the eagerly-awaited Rugby World Cup in September. VisitEngland’s new consumer campaign, #HomeofSport, capitalises on this summer of sport with a search to find the country’s most popular sports destinations.

ENDS

Press enquiries

For more information, please contact Angelah Sparg, Head of Corporate Communications Tel: T: 0207 578 1482 | M: 07917 183 668 Email:angelah.sparg@visitengland.org or Kaye Woodhouse Tel: 0207 578 1452 Email: kaye.woodhouse@visitengland.org M: 0787 070 4881 or website: www.visitengland.com/biz

About the Tourism Business Monitor
VisitEngland runs its The Tourism Business Monitor five times a year immediately following key tourism periods. The research covers:

• 500 accommodation establishments (c. 250 serviced / c. non-serviced), including mix by region, establishment size and hotels / guesthouses / B&B / self-catering / caravan and campsites.
• 300 visitor attractions including mix by region, attraction type, size (measured by annual visitor admissions), and free / paid admission.

Tourism Business Monitor, which is run by independent research firm BDRC-Continental, monitors tourism business performance and confidence levels

Fieldwork took place from 11th May to 18th May, reviewing the Easter and May period 2015

For the full report, visit: http://www.visitengland.com/biz/resources/insights-and-statistics/research-topics/business-confidence-and-performance/tourism-business-monitor

About GBTS

• A background to the survey can be found here: Great Britain Tourism Survey
• The survey is jointly sponsored by VisitEngland, VisitScotland and Visit Wales, and carried out by independent research agency TNS-RI
• Interviewing is carried out every week of the year using a face-to-face methodology. Annually, some 100,000 respondents are contacted, and any who have returned from an overnight trip within the past four weeks are asked to describe the details of that trip.
• The full results can be found here: Great Britain Tourism Survey 2015

About VisitEngland

• VisitEngland is the country’s national tourist board, sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media & Sport. We work in partnership with Government and the industry to develop the visitor experience across England, plan national tourism strategy, grow the value of tourism in England and provide advocacy for the industry and our visitors;. Our work is underpinned by robust research and customer insights.
• Over the last five years VisitEngland has invested over £57m of Government funding in English tourism. These investments have generated over £1.5 billion growth in visitor spending and to date have created over 28,000 jobs.
• England is a unique destination and a real powerhouse in global tourism. It represents 84 per cent of the total UK visitor economy, is worth £106 billion, and supports 2.6 million jobs.
• For further information and to access the latest in-depth market intelligence and statistics visit www.visitengland.com/biz or www.visitengland.com for consumer information.

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