And - this might just prove of interest:
http://www.britishresorts.co.uk/static/facts.asp
Facts About UK Domestic Tourism
The profile of the UK’s domestic tourism industry continues to grow, and it's not surprising given the diversity of product, the sheer scale of the activity, and its spectacular economic value. After years in the public policy wilderness, domestic tourism is now being recognised as a significant social and economic engine that firmly underpins the social and economic fabric of many of Britain’s rural and urban communities. Tourism employs significant numbers directly, but visitors also contribute to a much wider range of economic activities. Ironically, it took major past setbacks like foot and mouth disease to highlight just how ingrained the visitor economy is, and the impact that it has as a wider economic accumulator. Whether it is in keeping the village store in profit; maintaining the scale of market to justify vibrant local entertainment, restaurant and night life in towns; or simply the volume of trade needed to sustain quality retail in our major towns and cities, the visitor plays a key role.
Pleasant places to live and work are also, almost without exception, pleasant places to visit. We ignore at our peril the fact that visitors help fuel this virtuous circle of demand, provision and investment, often as much, and at times possibly more than, the resident population itself. Tourism’s roles and functions have now become far more apparent to Government at all levels. Consequently, central, regional and local government are far more willing to consider investing in physical regeneration and tourism management structures. This ensures that local residents and visitors can benefit from both the social and economic advantages that fall directly out of a locally healthy domestic tourism market.
Owing to changes in the UKTS methodology in May 2005 it is difficult to make direct comparisons with previous years, however, the headline figures for the domestic British market remain impressive. The British took 86.6 million domestic holidays in Britain in 2005, spending £14.5 billion. England accounted for 67.9 million of these holidays and £10.9 billion of the spend. In Wales the equivalent figures were 8.2 million holidays and £1.2 billion of the total spend, and in Scotland 9.5 million holidays generated £2.0 billion. UKTS data for 2006 will become available during 2007. More UKTS data can be found on the VisitBritain site
www.tourismtrade.org.uk.
(Source: UKTS 2005.)
Within this socially and economically vital industry the biggest and most often unfairly maligned element is the coastal sector, including within it the larger traditional seaside resorts and popular rural coastal destinations. Their contribution to the national tourism volume and value figures are equally impressive, and worthy of individual note:
The British take 26.7 million seaside holidays in the UK, spending £4.9 billion. England accounts for 20.8 million of these seaside holidays and £3.9 billion of the total spend. In Wales the equivalent figures are 3.8 million seaside holidays and £0.6 billion spend, and in Scotland 1.7 million seaside holidays generate £0.35 billion. As a proportion of all holidays in England by the British, seaside holidays account for 31% of all holiday trips, 36% of all nights and 34% of all spend. In Wales, coastal holidays account for an even more impressive 47% of all holiday trips, 50% of all holiday nights and 49% of all holiday spend. In Scotland, because of the different product, coastal holidays account for a smaller, but nevertheless important, 18% of all holiday trips, 17% of all holiday nights and 17% of all holiday expenditure.
(Source: UKTS 2005.)
Of the top 10 towns and cities visited for one or more night’s stay in 2005/06, four were coastal resorts, including Scarborough, Skegness and Bournemouth. Blackpool came in second in the top 10 to London, with 1.6 million overnight holiday trips, beating iconic historic destinations like Edinburgh and York and the newly fashionable big city destinations of Glasgow, Manchester and Birmingham.
(Source UKTS, May 2005 – Apr 2006)
In addition to these overnight trips there were almost 270 million day visits made to the British coast, generating a further £3.1 billion spend. On average each trip was of 3.9 hours with an average party size of 3.5 people. However, almost 1 in 4 (24%) of all seaside trips were made by people travelling by themselves. Of these almost 270m seaside day trips, 200m were taken in England, generating a spend of £2.5 billion. There were 25m seaside day trips taken in Wales, with a spend of £0.2 billion; and 42m seaside day trips in Scotland, generating £0.3 billion. (Source: UK Day Visits Survey 2002-03)
Other interesting facts relating to the coastal sector are:
Britain is made up of 6,100 islands, of which 291 are inhabited. England and Wales, including their islands, have a coastline of 3240 miles (5214km). Scotland and its islands have a coastline of 5800 miles (9335km). Great Britain has a coastline of 9040 miles (14,549km). There are 5 coastal National Parks and 26 coastal Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. England and Wales have 45 Heritage Coasts measuring 950 miles (1,520km) – Scotland has no Heritage Coasts. The National Trust owns 555 miles (888 km) of coastline in Britain and 74% of their coastline is designated Heritage Coast. The adult resident population of the 43 principal seaside resort towns in England, Scotland and Wales totals 3.1 million, marginally more than the total population of Wales (2.9 million). The adult resident population of working age in the same 43 principal resorts was some 366,000 greater in 2001 than it was in 1971, the heyday of traditional seaside resort holidays. Over the same period, the total number of jobs available in these towns had also increased by a massive 320,000.
In March 2006 a record 393 UK rural and resort beaches were awarded the Seaside Awards by ENCAMS and its national equivalents (formerly The Tidy Britain Group) – 15 more than in 2005 and 201 more than in the mid 1990’s. The Seaside Awards recognise clean beaches that provide proper safety and first aid, access for disabled visitors, clean and well-maintained facilities, dog control and free public information. In addition, 136 resort beaches were awarded the European Blue Flag in June 2006, 18 more than in 2005. Blue Flags are not available to rural beaches; however, a new award to marinas was introduced in 1998 when 6 flags were awarded. In 2006 a total of 11 marinas in the UK had the Blue Flag. In 2007 ENCAMS are replacing the Seaside Award in England with a new Quality Coast Award, an award that will recognise many more types of beach and beach experience.
Facts and figures on other key market segments, including rural tourism, market towns, major pay for entry and free entry attractions, and city-based tourism are available via
www.tourismtrade.org.uk
