VisitEngland has revealed that 9.7 million Brits are planning a holiday at home this August Bank Holiday, bringing an estimated £2.7 billion boost to the economy.
The figures show an increase of 4.4 million on last year’s results when 5.3 million Brits planned to take an overnight holiday trip during the August Bank Holiday weekend.
In 2019 the figure was 8.6 million, in 2018 7.3 million and in 2017 6.9 million.
VisitEngland Chief Executive Patricia Yates said:
“We know how important Bank Holidays are in bringing an economic boost with the money generated going in to local economies and supporting jobs.
“Businesses will also be looking to the long weekend for a critical late summer lift, building vital cash flow.
“Our research shows the impact that cost of living concerns are having on travel intentions with the weather also having an impact.
“This highlights the ongoing challenges for tourism businesses and destinations and the importance of extending the tourism season into autumn and beyond.”
The survey also showed that a further 4.3 million people were undecided about whether to take an overnight holiday trip in the UK during the Bank Holiday weekend.
The top reasons are ‘waiting to see what the weather is like’, ‘waiting to see if I can afford it’ and ‘waiting for deals / special offers’.
For those not planning an overnight holiday trip in the UK during the Bank Holiday weekend, the top reason is ‘I cannot afford it.’
The findings reflect the latest monthly wave of VisitEngland’s wider domestic consumer sentiment towards travel, published on 21 August.
The findings showed that the top perceived barriers to taking overnight UK trips in the next six months were the ‘rising cost of living’ followed by ‘UK weather’ and ‘personal finances’.
The full VisitEngland August Bank Holiday Trip Tracker survey can be accessed at https://www.visitbritain.org/sites/default/files/vb-corporate/Domestic_Research/trip_tracker_august_2023_report.pdf
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