There is one thing which is certain about Brexit, and that’s uncertainty. It is almost exactly one year since the referendum vote and the country is still no closer to finding out what leaving the EU will actually mean in practice.
There have been arguments for leaving and remaining aplenty, but can travel and tourism take any pointers so far? First up, predictions of a booming domestic market seem relatively well founded. At the end of last year, Abta’s Travel Trends Report for 2017 forecast a continuing upward surge for UK holidays – both for Brits and overseas visitors.
The Brexit uncertainty has seen the value of the pound fall about 15% since last June, and unsurprisingly, that’s gone down well with overseas tourists.
VisitBritain figures revealed that overseas visitors spent a record £2.7 billion in January and February alone – a rise of 11% on the same period in 2016; something the organisation’s director of strategy Patricia Yates put down to the combination of good value and sustained international marketing.
Indeed, efforts to promote the UK have been stepped up this year with tourism bodies keen to counter the impression that Brexit means the country is hostile to other nationalities.
Yates explained: “We must continue to build on our message of welcome and value in our high spending markets such as China, the US and the valuable European market.”
A recent Barclays’ Destination UK report underlined the goodwill among overseas visitors. The survey of 7,000 international holidaymakers revealed that 60% were more interested in visiting the UK than they were in 2016, while 97% expressed a desire to see the country at some point – great news given an average spend per visitor of £1,459.
