VisitEngland predicts bank holiday will generate £800m in staycation money

By Loulla-Mae Eleftheriou-Smith, marketingmagazine.co.uk, Thursday, 23 August 2012 10:38AM

A total of £800m of tourism spend is expected to be generated this bank holiday weekend, as a high number of Brits take an overnight trip in the UK instead of venturing abroad, says VisitEngland

VisitEngland: predicts £800m spend over the bank holiday weekend

According to VisitEngland's Bank Holiday Trip Tracker, 3.6 million Brits, which equates to 7% of the population, plan on taking an overnight holiday within the UK this weekend.

However, 1.6 million people, around 3% of the adult population, will journey abroad over the same period.

The tourism body claims the 3.6 million people will generate £800m in tourism spend and it maintains that 2.8 million of this number will be taking their trips specifically within England and will generate £600m of the total tourism spend.

This is further backed by 43% of Britons stating that the high-profile events this year, from the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, to the Olympic torch relay and both the Olympic and Paralympic Games, have made them more interested in exploring the UK.

However, VisitEngland says an overwhelming 6.4 million people, amounting to 13% of the adult population, are currently undecided about whether to take an overnight trip this weekend or not. This is due to a combination of factors, from the unpredictable weather to financial concerns, or holding out for last-minute deals to become available.

The expected boost in domestic tourism spend comes in the same week that VisitEngland revealed a flurry of new partnership programmes as part of a £41m campaign to run over the next three years, called 'Growing Tourism Locally'.

The drive, backed by £19.8m from the Government's Regional Growth Fund (RGF), with £9m put forward by VisitEngland and with £12m expected to be leveraged from the national and local tourism sector, aims to raise an additional £365m in tourism spend and create 9,100 jobs in the sector.

The campaign starts this week with a marketing push from Cumbria Tourism, featuring outdoor ads on London Underground that feature images of the Lake District and Cumbria using the strapline, "Go take your breath away".

Destination campaigns will continue to roll out over the next six months, focusing on the themes of heritage, coastal, countryside and culture, including sports and literature.

Last week culture secretary Jeremy Hunt revealed the department for culture, media and sport (DCMS) will be giving VisitEngland an extra £2m to run its 'Great' campaign in 2013.

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This article was first published on marketingmagazine.co.uk