Taste Lancashire at The Three Fishes

NEW GB-WIDE SURVEY ANNOUNCED DURING ENGLISH TOURISM WEEK

As English Tourism Week begins, VisitEngland, the national tourist board announces findings from the first survey of its kind on the importance of day visits to the domestic tourism industry.  The survey, conducted in 2011, in partnership with the national tourist boards of Wales and Scotland, shows GB residents took 1.5billion tourism day trips in the UK spending £54billion.  In England, Brits took 1.3billion trips, spending £44billion.

Total visitor tourism spend in England by domestic and overseas visitors amounts to over £70billion, with day visits alone making up  a key component of that figure.  On average, day visitors in England spend £34 per trip, however this varies according to the type of activity. Those taking a ‘special shopping’ trip spend on average £113 per trip, whilst at the other end of the scale those people visiting friends and family spend an average of £18 per trip.

Visiting friends and family (350 million trips), going out for meals and drinks (together, 250 million) were most popular reasons for day trips with outdoor activities following close behind with 102 million days out (worth £2.4billion).  Shopping also featured in the top ten reasons, with 74 million trips taken last year (worth £8.3billion), followed by 66 million trips visiting attractions (worth £2.4billion) and 48 million trips taken to watch live sporting events (worth £1.8million). 35 million trips were also taken to attend special public events (worth £1.7million).

James Berresford, VisitEngland’s Chief Executive said:

“This survey represents a very important piece of the domestic tourism jigsaw.  Day visits are enormously important to the industry and the British economy and represent the cornerstone of the tourism industry in this country.    English Tourism Week kicks off what promises to be a great year marked by amazing events such as the Torch Relay, The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and the Cultural Festival. This is the year to take a day trip that you will never forget!”

Not surprisingly London came out on top in terms of a regional breakdown with 273 million day visits with the South East (201m), North West (173m), the South West (141m) and Yorkshire and the Humber (139m) following behind the capital city.

Last week, VisitEngland launched a new website www.great2012offers.com  which has thousands of offers on accommodation, meals, attractions, transport and events of 20.12% or better – ensuring affordable day trips are available throughout the whole country.

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For more information contact:

Sarah Long, Head of Corporate Communications Tel: 020 7578 1452, Mob: 07500555651, Email: [email protected]   www.visitengland.org

Emma White, Corporate Communications Executive Tel 020 7578 1471, Email: [email protected]

Notes to Editors

About English Tourism Week

• English Tourism Week is led by VisitEngland and is an industry wide initiative designed to shine a light on the importance of tourism in England.  The industry as whole is worth £97billion to the UK economy and supports over 2million jobs.
• Over 400 tourism organisations and businesses are putting on events to celebrate English Tourism Week  – a full list can be found at the website below or www.enjoyengland.com/English-Tourism-Week
• For more information about English Tourism Week see www.englishtourismweek.co.uk

About the day visits survey

• In total 38,000 interviews were conducted online with adults age 16+ across 2 weekly waves. Respondents were asked about the day trips they had taken in the past 7 days.
• The full report can be found on http://www.visitengland.org/insight-statistics/major-tourism-surveys/dayvisitors/index.aspx
• In this survey  tourism day trip is defined as:

• Taking part in one of a pre-defined list of activities (based on international tourism definitions)
• Spending 3 or more hours out of the home on this activity
• The activity not being something that the respondent does “very regularly”
• The activity not being carried out in the place that the respondent lives or, if the trip started in the workplace e.g. going for a drink after work, the place the respondent works
  • The exception to this was trips to visitor attractions, live sporting events and special public events, which are all counted as tourism day trips even when in the place of residence, provided they fulfil the other three criteria.

Total Activities – England

Regional Breakdown – England

• The table below shows the volume (in millions) and value (in billions) by region.
• Volume and value shares by region are very broadly in line with their population shares. The exception to this is London, which takes a significantly higher share of trip volume and spend than its share of the population.

About VisitEngland

• VisitEngland is the country’s national tourist board. We work in partnership with the industry to develop the visitor experience across England, plan national tourism strategy, grow the value of tourism in England and provide advocacy for the industry and our visitors
• Our work is underpinned by robust research and customer insights. You can access the latest in-depth market intelligence and statistics on www.visitengland.org/insight-statistics   
• VisitEngland markets England under the Enjoy England consumer brand in the domestic market and markets England under the VisitEngland brand internationally 

About England

• England is a unique destination and a real powerhouse in global tourism. It represents 84 per cent of the total UK visitor economy, is worth £97 billion, and supports in excess of 2 million jobs
• More information can be found on www.enjoyengland.com and www.visitengland.org