4% less holidays in Jan-May
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UK residents have taken 4% less holidays in the first five months of 2012 compared to the same period last year, new Office of National Statistics (ONS) have found.
Around 11.6 million holidays were taken in the first five months of this year, compared to 12.1 million last year. Continued pressure on consumer spend and sporting events have led to the decrease, although the summer holidays will remain the peak travelling period for Brits.
Additional results found that travel into the UK is up 8% with spending up 5% to £6.2bn. VisitBritain said the inbound figures were encouraging but “the work really begins” when the Olympics finish.
“The Games provide a wonderful platform, but tourism is a fiercely competitive business and there is no room for complacency. The real challenge comes after the Games,” said Christopher Rodrigues, chairman of VisitBritain. “Many of our tourism competitors face even tougher economic conditions than we do – and maybe because of that they are turning to tourism to provide a powerful engine to support recovery”.
