During the depths of the recession, we saw the rise of the Staycation, where UK holidaymakers chose destinations at home rather than travel overseas, largely due to the weak pound significantly pushing up costs.  Now, with the alarming increase in terrorism in Europe and elsewhere, the Staycation is making headlines again.  According to recent research carried out by Travelzoo, the majority of Britons are now putting safety ahead of affordability and good weather when it comes to choosing a holiday, and opting to stay closer to home.

The same poll revealed that the UK was the most popular destination, chosen by 27% of respondents, followed by Spain (21%) and France (10%).  Clearly, this is good news for the South West which receives the largest proportion of domestic tourism trips and the highest spend out of the UK’s regions, at 15% and 17% respectively (VisitBritain).  We anticipate that this positive effect will be felt across all sectors of the region’s hospitality businesses.

Equally encouraging is the 2015 data from the GB Domestic Tourism Survey.  This showed a rise in the number of trips to the South West region of almost 14% last year, to 19.6m, while spending was also up by a similar percentage, to £4.4bn. In fact, nearly one in five (19%) of all bed nights across Britain were taken in the South West during 2015, while spend amounted to 18% of the total UK figure, all of which only serves to highlight the South West’s importance to the country’s tourism industry.