Big drop in foreign trips
12.07.10
The number of foreign trips made by British holidaymakers and business travellers fell at the fastest rate since the 1970s last year, according to the Office for National Statistics.They made 58.6 million trips, compared to 69 million in 2008, with the fall mirrored by foreign visitors coming to Britain although not by as much, a drop from 31.1 million to 29.9 million.
The drop follows years of steady growth both into and out of the UK. Visits abroad have grown by an average of 4% a year in the last 25 years and visits to the UK have grown by an average of 3.2%.
Business travel suffered the most last year, with 23% less visits made by UK residents abroad and 19% less visits made into the UK from abroad. There was a drop of 15% in visits made from the UK abroad for holidays and of 6.5% for visiting friends and relatives. However, holiday-specific trips to the UK by overseas visitors rose in 2009, by 0.5 million from 10.9m in 2008 to 11.4m in 2009.
Mexico suffered a 41% fall in visits from UK holidaymakers but Egypt, Jamaica and Lithuania saw rises. The combined visits to France and Spain, although they did not grow, still amount to 21.3 million of the total 58.6 million visits abroad.Add to: del.icio.us | Digg it | Newsvine | NowPublic | Reddit
To book gatwick airport hotel or gatwick airport car park at the lowest price, click on these links to two great gatwick parking and gatwick hotels price comparison pages.
