More evidence of ‘staycations’ popularity published

New research undertaken by tourist board Visit Nottinghamshire has suggested the majority of Britons are expecting to spend more on UK holidays or so-called ‘staycations’ over the next six months. The tourist board says this should support a boost to the tourism and hospitality sectors in the later part of 2020. It could also be encouraging news to coach tour operators.

Visit Nottinghamshire conducted a survey to understand how COVID-19 has affected attitudes towards visiting Nottingham and Nottinghamshire, with the 838 respondents comprised of those signed up to Visit Nottinghamshire’s database of 35,000 consumers and those following its social media channels. The survey found that 57% of people are expecting to spend more than usual on UK mini-breaks (typically lasting two to three days) in the coming six months, with 49% expecting to spend more on longer UK holidays. Around a third of people (28% for UK mini-breaks and 35% for longer UK holidays) expected their spend to remain the same as before, with only small numbers of respondents expecting to spend less on UK mini-breaks (9%) and longer UK holidays (8%) than they would have before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Visit Nottinghamshire also sought to understand people’s attitudes towards taking day trips. 48% of respondents stated that as soon as lockdown measures end they would feel comfortable visiting local attractions, while 29% intended to wait “a few weeks”.

Robert Dixon, interim Chief Executive of Marketing Nottingham, said: “Our research provides us with a clear picture of consumers’ travel intentions over the next 6 months – subject of course to the ongoing COVID-19 situation, which we continue to monitor closely. It is great to see that consumer confidence is returning as the lockdown lifts, with most people expecting to spend more on UK holidays and mini-breaks than before COVID-19.

“This gives us an unprecedented opportunity to tap into the UK staycation market, encouraging British people to discover the hidden gems right on their doorstep instead of heading abroad this year. Visit Nottinghamshire are promoting our region as a safe and enjoyable destination to visit this summer, and following months of lockdown earlier in the year we are aiming to extend the tourism season into the autumn and winter months too. Our research has given us some valuable insights into consumer attitudes towards leisure travel, and we are using these findings to inform our highly targeted tourism campaign which aims to help boost the recovery of our local tourism and hospitality sectors.”

  • The full findings of the COVID-19 Consumer survey are available here.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Cookies

This site uses some unobtrusive cookies to store information on your computer, these are in place to ensure that you receive the best possible experience when using the Bus & Coach Buyer website.