Bank Holiday’s £6bn shot in arm for the economy
A BUMPER Bank Holiday is set to give the economy a £6billion boost.
A cool £4.2billion is expected to be spent during the last long weekend of the summer.
And seven million people have booked holidays at home – boosting spending by an additional £1.75billion.
The cheerful forecasts come after a red-hot summer during which we splashed out £1billion a day on everything from paddling pools to ice creams.
It all adds to the national mood of optimism with a string of favourable statistics showing the economy growing and unemployment at a 43-year low.
Professor Patrick Minford, chairman of Economists for Free Trade, said: “The mood of British consumers is good, reflecting the fact that the economy continues to grow and create record employment.”
Traditional
He added: “A staycation is best because of the Brexit devaluation, which makes British holidays unbeatable value and is driving a strong improvement in the UK’s balance of payments.”
Research by American Express reveals 77 per cent of UK adults plan to stay at home over the Bank Holiday.
They say 40 million adults will each spend at least £104 – with shopping, eating and drinking, home improvements and family visits top of the agenda.
A total of 7.3 million are planning an overnight holiday in the UK, according to VisitEngland, up on last year’s 6.9 million.
The economic shot in the arm comes as figures show increasing numbers shunning foreign breaks. Tourism is now worth £127 billion a year to the UK economy.
Traditional seaside towns such as Bournemouth, Cromer, Blackpool, Westonsuper-Mare and Margate are set to be especially popular this weekend while attractions like Stonehenge, the Tower Of London and Chester Zoo will be extremely busy. England’s march to the semi-finals of the football World Cup in Russia provided a boost to shops with 51 per cent of firms surveyed saying sales volumes were up on a year ago.
But travel disruption is expected as the warm weather turns to wind and rain over the weekend.
Temperatures are set to plunge by tomorrow, with parts of the country battered by near gale-force winds. The Met Office said: “Some standing water on roads will add to difficult driving conditions on Sunday.”
Railway engineering work will also disrupt a number of routes. But the good news is that the hot summer will produce the earliest and best harvest of crops such as apples, plums, grapes and tomatoes in years.