Tourism booms as the pound slumps
THE future is Brexit and amid the uncertainty one sector has not only welcomed the prospect, but predicts that business will rocket as a result.
Britain’s leisure industry – which was already on a roll having welcomed record numbers of foreign and domestic tourists last year – is expecting to reach new heights in 2016 as the falling pound makes the UK great value for overseas visitors.
Meanwhile, British holidaymakers faced with the prospect of their pounds buying a lot less foreign spending money are more likely than ever to stay within these shores.
And terrorist atrocities such as the attack in Nice last week are making Britons even more reluctant to travel abroad.
Patricia Yates, director of tourism organisation Visit Britain, said: ‘Tourism has the potential to benefit from the weakened pound and we know that online travel agents and tour operators have seen an increase in searches for travel to Britain during the past two weeks.
‘The year has got off to a cracking start, with the first quarter of 2016 breaking records for inbound visits to Britain as well as the number of Britons holidaying at home, and we expect this growth to continue.’
Leisure companies are already reporting an upsurge in business since the referendum. Andrew Shelton, managing director of travel website Cheapflights, said that in the days after the Brexit vote, searches for flights from the US to Britain doubled; searches from China jumped 61 per cent; and searches from Canada were up by 49 per cent. Searches for flights to the UK from EU countries shot up 31 per cent in the same period, with Spain and Italy leading the push, showing increases of 84 per cent and 62 per cent respectively.
Shelton said: ‘The EU referendum result may have sparked a Brexit boom for UK inbound tourism as travellers around the world adjust to the fact that the UK has suddenly just become much better value.’ For Britons looking to travel abroad, he said it was a ‘mixed message’, noting that the weak pound ‘mixed with a widespread sense of uncertainty is giving British holidaymakers pause for thought before they book’.
Simon Phillips at foreign exchange firm No 1 Currency warned: ‘With the pound widely predicted to continue heading south in coming weeks, those going to the Continent should consider stocking up on euros now to lock into a better exchange rate.’
Mark Walton, chief operating officer of Roomzzz apartment hotels operating across the north of England, said that while business had fallen off in the weeks leading up to the referendum due to a ‘fear of the unknown’, since June 23 bookings from UK holidaymakers had shot up 11 per cent year on year.
‘What I didn’t expect is that bookings from EU countries would have gone up 17 per cent,’ he added. ‘People from the Continent still want to come here in spite of the vote and I think British people want to stay in the UK as a vote of confidence in the country. It’s a case of people wanting to spend their money in their own country.’
Dimitri Konovalovas of hotel price comparison website Hotels Combined said he had seen an increase of 13 per cent in searches for UK accommodation by British users in the three weeks since the vote.
‘Uncertainty around the pound does appear to have convinced many that it’s safer to stay at home, at least for now,’ he said.
The hospitality and tourism industry is the UK’s fourth-largest employer, providing jobs for 10 per cent of the workforce in 180,000 businesses. The British Hospitality Association has long campaigned for a cut in VAT for the industry and its chairman, Nick Varney, said the industry ‘should seize the moment and lock in that competitive advantage with a permanent cut to VAT for accommodation and possibly, in the future, also for restaurants’.
While the weak pound has boosted Britain’s attractiveness as a holiday destination, tourism was already booming. Last year set a record for UK inbound tourism, with 36.1million visits – 5 per cent up on 2014 – and spending up 1 per cent to £22.1 billion.
The trend has been continuing into 2016. Figures just released by Visit Britain show strong growth from markets including the US, Germany, China and Australia in January to March 2016, making it the best ever first quarter for total inbound visits. It was also a record first quarter for spending on overnight domestic holiday trips in England. Visitors paid out £1.8 billion from January to March – up 23 per cent on the same period last year.
Visit Britain boss Yates said: ‘It’s a great summer to come to Britain.’