The first few weeks of the summer holidays showed a 40% rise in the number of people in England "staycationing" compared with 2008 despite the wettest July since 1914, tourism chiefs have revealed.
Seaside breaks, camping and caravanning continued their surge in popularity, with hotels and guest houses seeing only modest improvements as the number of business trips fell because of the recession, figures published by VisitEngland, the public-private tourism body, suggested.
The July figures show 6.7m holiday trips in England – up from 4.8m in the same month last year – and is part of an upward trend in domestic breaks by UK residents. The number of breaks increased by 20% for the first seven months this year compared with the same period in 2008. Travel abroad in the first seven months of 2009 fell by a sixth compared with the same period last year, owing in part to less favourable exchange rates.
The big drops in work-related trips and a dip in people travelling to see family and friends means the UK travel and tourism industry still faces difficult times. The overall number of trips since the beginning of the year has risen 5% in England and 4% in the UK compared with the same period in 2008, while the total amount spent on all overnight travel has only increased by 2% to nearly £9.9bn in England and by 1% to £12.5bn in the UK.
James Berresford, the chief executive of VisitEngland, said the figures were "further proof that the great visitor product on offer in England is back on everyone's lips, on their mind and here to stay, with Brits embracing the dynamic and diverse holiday offer here at home".
People were rediscovering what there was on offer, he said, "whether it be a relaxing long weekend in the countryside, an action-packed activity holiday for the family or a stimulating city break".
Berresford added that the industry was now working to ensure that English destinations continued to draw new and repeat visitors as economic circumstances improved and exchange rates changed.
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