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UK tourism and recreation 'outpacing global recovery'
The UK’s tourism and and recreation sector returned to growth last month for the first time since February, outpacing "global recovery trends".
Lloyds Bank’s monthly UK Recovery Tracker found output of UK businesses in 13 of the 14 sectors it monitors increased in August, including tourism and recreation for the first time.
Tourism and recreation, for the purposes of the Tracker, includes hotels, restaurants and leisure facilities.
According to Lloyds, the recovery was aided by the Eat Out to Help Out scheme, and a domestic tourism and staycation boost.
The findings, though, can only be considered a qualified positive, said Lloyds, following the historic low period most sectors suffered during Q2.
"Many tourism and recreation businesses only started to operate again in July, which helped make the sector’s August rebound in output so sharp," said Lloyds.
Meanwhile, transport was the only UK sector to fall behind the global recovery benchmark in August, posting an outright decline in output.
The UK’s PMI, a measurement of output, increased from 57 in July to 59 in August. By comparison, Germany and France saw their PMI slow in August, while Spain and Italy fell into decline.
Again, Lloyds stressed this came following "exceptionally low output levels" in Q2.
Jeavon Lolay, Head of economics and market insight at Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking, said: "The headline findings of this month’s UK Recovery Tracker paint a positive picture, with more domestic businesses outperforming their international counterparts during August.
"However, despite most UK sectors being ahead of the global benchmark, the data shows the recovery of some industries is starting to slow.
"When it comes to the UK’s performance, it’s worth noting other European countries have already experienced a slowdown in their performance as they navigate further outbreaks of Covid-19 and additional measures to stop the pandemic’s spread.
"It will be interesting to see the picture in September when the Eat Out to Help Out scheme has ended and the impact of the ’rule of six’ on sectors that rely on social interaction, such as tourism and recreation, is clearer."
