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Hotels in the UK Expect More Foreign Guests During the Holiday Season
Hotels across the UK hope for a good holiday season this year and an increased number of foreign guests during Christmas and New Year. That might sound too confident, but flight bookings show that this festive season has an opportunity to overcome the previous year’s results. The number of flight bookings to the UK from 23 December 2018 to 5 January 2019 is currently 9% higher than during the same period a year ago.
Travelers from such countries as the Middle East, China, and the United States show particularly strong growth. Forward bookings from the countries mentioned above have added 59%, 44%, and 27% respectively. This growth only proves the long-term trend of the UK’s growing popularity, especially among long-haul visitors.
Not only hotels in London but also the country’s economy in its entirety benefit from guests from the United States. Currently, forward bookings from the US to the UK for the period of December 2018 to May 2019 are 27% higher than for the same period a year ago. The United States is the most valuable source market for the United Kingdom in terms of tourist spends. In 2017, US travelers spent a record amount of money in the UK - £3.6 billion. That is 9% higher than in 2016. The number of visitors has also been growing steadily, reaching 3.9 million people in 2017. That is 13% more than a year ago and the highest result since 2000.
China is the second most important source market for the United Kingdom. The importance of China is hard to overestimate as it is the most valuable outbound travel market in the world. Currently, China is in the top 10 most valuable source markets for the UK. In 2016, a record number of 337,000 visitors from China arrived in the country. Their spending also reached the all-time high result of £694 million. The importance of the travel industry for the economy of the United Kingdom is doubtless as every 22 visits from China create one job in the tourism sector of the UK.
Travelers from the Middle East also visit the UK more actively these days. These visitors are known as some of the highest spenders in the UK. For example, travelers from GCC (Gulf Co-operation Council) spent £2733 on average during their stay in the country. That is almost four times higher than the average result for the market of £625. The United Kingdom also tries to promote travel and regularly launches interesting campaigns, such as “I Travel For…” prepared by VisitBritain. It focuses on new and unexpected experiences that travelers may find in different destinations across the UK. The refreshed campaign offers new content in different countries and regions, including Europe, GCC, Australia, the US, and India.
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