By William Coleman
So today, the 27th of September is World Tourism Day and with that comes a whole wave of festivities. To help kick things off with a bang the Great British Tourism Survey results have been released to reveal that last year 9.8 million domestic caravan holidays were taken across England, Wales and Scotland. Many of which were taken by you guys, the readers.
The latest GB Tourism Survey results, which were jointly sponsored by VisitEngland, VisitScotland and VisitWales, have shown that a staggering 7.48 million caravan “staycations” were taken in England 2017, which was a record year across the whole UK holiday industry in purchases of leisure vehicles. 2017 also saw 762,000 trips taken in Scotland and 1.56 million trips made in Wales.
With so many UK based holidays taking place there must have been some kind boom for the UK economy? All these holidays generated a gargantuan £1.64 billion for the UK tourism, and overall, economy. Something we can all agree the UK needs at this current time.
Out of all the types or caravan holiday it was the rented caravan holidays that were, by far, the most profitable in England. This type of holiday accommodation generated £645 million across the region.
Trips involving touring caravans, campervans and motorhomes – sometimes alleged to bring low levels of spend to their destination – accounted for over half a billion pounds (£526m) in England, Scotland and Wales.
John Lally, Director General of the NCC (National Caravan Council), said: “These figures confirm that caravanning, in all its forms, is vitally important to UK tourism. Caravan holidays clearly remain as popular as ever and our joint awareness campaign, Freedom to Go, continues to attract younger leisure vehicle users to the benefits of caravan and motorhome holidays.
“Many of the 550 companies represented by the NCC will have helped contribute to these impressive figures by offering consumers a fantastic choice of holiday destinations. The good weather experienced throughout 2018 coupled with strong product investment will ensure the caravan parks industry remains a British success story.”
So with so many people opting to stay home for their holidays and so many more choosing the ever growing “try before you buy” caravan holiday it would seem that caravanning has never been more popular. As I sit here now it’s 25 degrees outside and the sun in shining brighter than ever. Who would have thought that we would be having such great weather this close to October. Looks as though you may not need to start the winter storage preparation after all.
