The UK travel and tourism industry serves three separate markets: domestic tourism by UK residents within the UK; outbound tourism by UK residents travelling abroad; and inbound tourism by overseas residents travelling to the UK. In 2008, total expenditure on UK travel and tourism, combining these three markets, increased by 2.5% to £74bn. However, there were falls recorded in the number of trips made (down by 3.3% to 218.3 million) and in the number of bed nights spent (down by 1% to 1.32 billion). The outbound market is the largest by expenditure and bed nights, while the highest number of trips made is reported for the domestic market.
The global recession has seriously affected the UK travel and tourism industry and the market is currently facing its most difficult trading climate for many years. Falls in the numbers of air passengers — especially first-class and business passengers — have badly affected the airline industry and reductions in room and bedspace occupancy levels have had a serious impact on the hotel market. Many of the leading tour operators have also been forced to reduce the number of holidays they offer customers. Furthermore, the train operator National Express is to have one of its franchises, the London to Edinburgh East Coast Mainline service, taken back into public ownership by the Government, owing to falling passenger numbers and the financial losses the company is now making on the route.
The industry is greatly concerned about the forthcoming increases in Air Passenger Duty (APD), which is a passenger-based tax charged to the aircraft operator and based on the number of passengers, the destination and the class of travel. The duty is set to increase in November 2009 and again in November 2010, and it will push up the cost of air travel and act as a disincentive — especially to long-distance travel. It will also make the UK unique, in the sense that no other country has anything like the same degree of air travel taxation.
The British Tourism Framework Review was commissioned by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport in 2007 and followed the Government's decision to reduce VisitBritain's funding in real terms for the years 2008/2009 to 2010/2011. Published in February 2009, the British Tourism Framework Review proposed a ten-point agenda to help realise the full potential of Britain's visitor economy. These ten points included: redefining the role of VisitBritain; creating a new English tourism-led body (VisitEngland); and developing UK-wide tourism Internet platforms aimed at supporting the industry and the national tourist boards.
2009 is expected to be another difficult year for the UK travel and tourism market, with all sectors (inbound, outbound and domestic) affected by the worldwide recession. The market in 2010 is expected to remain difficult, although some slight improvement is projected, and it may be 2011 before a more substantial recovery is witnessed. The 2012 London Olympics should provide a welcome boost to both the inbound and domestic sectors of the travel and tourism market.
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