Insights into tourism for 2010

Last Updated: 07 May 2010

VisitBritain recently issued a document listing its top insights into the tourism economy and which way it is likely to go this year. Their forecast is that the tourism industry will not fully recover until at least 2011, with growth this year a mere 1% in the number of visitors and 4% in spending.

This cautious forecast is due in part to the relatively slow growth of the economy, particularly in the UK where a double-dip recession cannot be ruled out. 2010 is bound to be a difficult year due to a range of issues that will impact negatively on personal and business finances.

• Fuel prices are likely to remain high
• Small businesses will still struggle to secure loans
• Higher taxes are very likely

Over the past year or so, tourism has been submitted to a range of threats that it managed to survive relatively unscathed. The H1N1 virus pandemic has not had as big an impact on tourism as might have been expected, and although terrorism is still a very real threat, the lack of successful attacks means confidence has not been undermined.

However, VisitBritain insists that more should be done to help strengthen tourism growth, such as ensuring air travel is safe, making sure that the visa regimes are fair and secure, and measures should be implemented to face the competition from alternative holiday destinations (such as Turkey, South Africa, Cuba, Peru, Cambodia, Bahrain, Montenegro and Morocco, all of which had positive tourism growth in 2009).

Nevertheless, VisitBritain does believe that the UK’s unique strengths will play to its advantage, helped by the weakness of the pound and the real ‘staycation’ phenomenon of last year that could very well extend to 2010 – if the weather allows it. These unique strengths identified by VisitBritain are: the cultural and heritage offer, which underpins up to £4.5bn of inbound visitor spending a year; the natural scenic beauty, which could be further exploited; and the appeal of London as a destination in anticipation of the 2012 Olympic Games.