Holidays at home top the preferences of British travellers for a second year running, according to research revealed at World Travel Market London today (Monday 5 November).
In the show’s annual survey of 1,025 British holidaymakers, almost a third (27%) said they had holidayed in the UK, England, Wales or Scotland over the last year, beating perennial continental favourite Spain (18%) into second place.
The top-five destinations for British holidaymakers were completed by the USA (12%), Italy (9%) and France (8%), with all five destinations remaining in the same positions as last year.
The last 12 months have seen holidays in Britain soar alongside temperatures in the country, but despite 2018 being the joint hottest summer since records began, only
14 per cent of those who answered ‘yes’ when asked if they would holiday in Britain in 2019 said the good weather played a part in them booking.
Impending Brexit may be playing a role in people’s 2019 holiday decisions according to the poll: 42% of those asked said they thought Brexit would impact their holiday choices for next year, while almost a third (31%) expressed worries over holidaying in the EU after Brexit Day on March 29, 2019. Almost half of those asked (47%) meanwhile believed holidays will be more expensive in a post-Brexit world, while the potential need for a post-Brexit EU visa for British travellers also proved to be worrying according to the survey. Almost six in ten (58%) said they would reconsider travelling to the EU if they had to pay for a visa.
Potential fears over Brexit may also be influencing British travellers thoughts when it comes to their holidays in 2019 and beyond. When asked which destinations they would like to visit in future, perennial favourites Italy (57%), Greece (47%) and the USA (44) took the top three positions, with the more exotic Japane (32%) and Cuba (23%) making
World Travel Market London’s Paul Nelson said: “It seems as though the staycation will not go away with the UK again being the number one holiday destination for British travellers. With the other top-five countries remaining the same, it may be assumed we have a holidaymaking public that is largely conservative in its choice of holiday destinations, but Brexit may change that as traditional European favourites are losing ground to further-flung places such as Japan and Cuba.”
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About World Travel Market
World Travel Market (WTM) portfolio comprises six leading B2B events across four continents, generating more than $7bn of industry deals. The events are:
WTM London, the leading global event for the travel industry, is the must-attend three-day exhibition for the worldwide travel and tourism industry. About 50,000 senior travel industry professionals, government ministers and international media visit ExCeL London every November, generating about £2.8 billion of travel industry contracts. http://london.wtm.com/. Next event: 5-7 November 2018 – London.
T>F Travel Forward is a new travel technology event co-located with WTM London 2018 and part of the WTM portfolio of events. The inaugural T>F Travel Forward conference, exhibition and buyer programme will take place on 5 – 7 November 2018 at ExCeL London, showcasing next-generation technology for travel and hospitality.
WTM Latin America, now in its fifth edition, attracts about 9,000 unique senior executives. The event generates about US$374 million of new business. Taking place in Sao Paulo, Brazil, this show attracts a global audience to meet and shape the direction of the travel industry. More than 7,000 unique visitors attend the event to network, negotiate and discover the latest industry news. http://latinamerica.wtm.com/. Next event: 3-5 April 2018 – Sao Paulo.
WTM Africa launched in 2014 in Cape Town, South Africa. Nearly 5,000 travel industry professionals attend Africa’s leading inbound and outbound travel and tourism market. WTM Africa delivers a proven mix of hosted buyers, media, pre-scheduled appointments, on-site networking, evening functions and invited travel trade visitors. http://africa.wtm.com/. Next event: 18-20 April 2018 – Cape Town.
Arabian Travel Market (ATM) is the leading, international travel and tourism event in the Middle East for inbound and outbound tourism professionals. ATM 2017 attracted almost 40,000 industry professionals, agreeing deals worth US$2.5 billion over the four days. The 25th edition of ATM will showcase more than 2,500 exhibiting companies across 12 halls at Dubai World Trade Centre, making it the largest ATM in its 25-year history. http://arabiantravelmarket.wtm.com/ www.wtmworld.com. Next event: 22-25 April 2018 – Dubai.
International Golf Travel Market (IGTM) is the meeting place for the global B2B golf travel community. Taking place annually since 1998, IGTM brings together more than 500 golf tourism suppliers and 400 pre-qualified buyers for four days of unmissable pre-scheduled appointments and exclusive networking opportunities. Showcasing a different golf destination every year, IGTM brings together 1,400 golf tourism professionals from more than 65 countries. http://igtm.wtm.com/. Next event: 15-18 October 2018 – Slovenia.
About Reed Exhibitions
Reed Exhibitions is the world’s leading events business, enhancing the power of face-to-face through data and digital tools at more than 500 events a year, in more than 43 countries, attracting more than seven million participants. East, Asia Pacific and Africa and organised by 41 fully staffed offices. Reed Exhibitions serves 43 industry sectors with trade and consumer events. It is part of the RELX Group plc, a world-leading provider of information solutions for professional customers across industries.
About Reed Travel Exhibitions
Reed Travel Exhibitions is the world’s leading travel and tourism events organiser with a growing portfolio of more than 22 international travel and tourism trade events in Europe, the Americas, Asia, the Middle East and Africa. Our events are market leaders in their sectors, whether they are global and regional leisure travel trade events, or specialist events for meetings, incentives, conference, events (MICE) industry, business travel, luxury travel, travel technology as well as golf, spa and ski travel. We have more than 35 years’ experience in organising world-leading travel exhibitions.
More information, please contact:
Paul Nelson – WTM Portfolio PR Manager
T: +44 (0)20 8910 7032/ M: +44 (0)79 1955 5510
Natalia Hartmann – WTM Portfolio PR Executive
E: natalia.hartmann@reedexpo.co.uk
T: +44 (0)20 8439 5535/ M: +44 (0)74 0336 7331