Destinations Spain shows sharpest recovery as US stirs
F
12 15
0 3 6 9
2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 Source: Office for National Statistics 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
or all the talk of new destinations and ‘what’s hot’ in consumer travel supplements, there is remarkable continuity in the destinations favoured by UK visitors.
Holidays to the EU dominate (76% of the total in 2013) and Spain and France take
the lion’s share, with the US a comfortable third and by far the biggest long-haul destination. Distance, cultural familiarity, air lift (and tunnel), available rooms and existing commercial ties make for few surprises. The ‘UK Visitors’ chart (below) shows
departures to the biggest short-haul and key long-haul destinations over the past decade, based on ONS figures. All the charts on these pages are based on ONS data, not destination arrival numbers which will differ, since the ONS figures have the virtue of consistency across markets and allow comparisons. Spain now attracts three million more UK
visitors a year than France, with departures to the latter falling consistently over a decade. Spain hit close to 14 million UK visitors a year between 2003 and 2008 before losing 3.5 million in the downturn of 2010-11. But unlike France, Spain has
UK VISITORS TO SPAIN AND FRANCE, 2002-13
UK VISITORS TO SPAIN & FRANCE: 2002-13
Spain France
0 1 2 3 4 5
2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
UK VISITORS TO US AND CARIBBEAN, 2002-13
UK VISITORS TO US & CARIBBEAN: 2002-13
US Caribbean
UK travellers display remarkable consistency in their choice of destination. Ian Taylor explains
seen steady growth since. Of the 8.85 million visitors to France in 2013, 3.1 million travelled through the tunnel, more than by air (3.05 million) or sea (2.7 million). Departures to the US in 2013 were down
by at least a quarter on 2004-08. Only in the first eight months of 2014 did first signs of a recovery appear, with departures to North America up 6% year on year. Numbers heading to the Caribbean rose
through the mid-2000s before falling to a level not seen for a decade as the region suffered the double whammy of economic downturn and a punitive rate of APD. Yet it is worth noting the rise of Mexico (excluded from the Caribbean figures) which saw a 54% jump in visitors in 2013 fuelled by government support, major investment in resorts and increased flights. Mexico also appears to defy the notion that violence or instability anywhere in a destination can affect demand. The Riviera Maya appears far removed from Iguala (scene of a massacre of students in September). Egypt has still not recovered from the
overthrow of the Mubarak regime in 2011 and violence around the army takeover from the successor Morsi regime last year. However, GfK booking figures suggest a partial recovery in 2014. A rise in UK departures to the UAE (chiefly Dubai) almost exactly mirrors the decline to Egypt. The Eastern Mediterranean appears host
2010 2011 2012 2013
to some of the greatest shifts. Turkey grew at the expense of Greece up to 2008 and recovered quicker from the downturn (chart: UK Visitors to the Eastern Mediterranean). But Greece has rebounded since the height of its debt crisis in 2010. Cyprus has failed to interrupt its decline despite opening to budget carriers (Ryanair opened a Paphos base in 2011) and faces a crisis in the Russian market which had gone some way to replace the British. The move of Ryanair and easyJet into the eastern Med cannot be said to have boosted the market to the region.
48 | Travel Weekly Insight Annual Report 2014
Visitors (millions)
12.52m 12.1m
11.96m 11.6m
11.1m 10.85m
11.2m 10.85m 9.76m
9.06m 8.93m 8.78m 8.85m
Visitors (millions)
0.78m 0.82m
0.98m 1.03m 1.04m 1.05m
0.95m 0.89m 0.87m 0.87m 0.76m 0.68m
3.2m 3.24m 3.23m
3m 3.05m
3.6m 3.6m
4.2m 4.24m
4m
3.9m 4m
11.58m
10.38m 10.65m
11.11m 11.75m
13.76m 13.83m 13.84m
14.43m
13.87m 13.82m
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