UK – Case study
The UK is a mature tourism destination and tourist generating country.
-There has been a strong relationship between the average income in the UK and the average spending on tourism both at home and abroad.
-Tourism provides employment opportunities.
-Tourism supports an inflow of cash from abroad.
Major issues
-Negative balance of payments: more money goes out of the country than comes in through tourism. A major reason for this is the desire by UK citizens for guaranteed sunshine abroad.
-Regional imbalance:
This occurs when so much of the foreign tourism is focused on London and a few other ‘world famous’ locations
-Pressure at honey pot locations:
High volumes of tourists at a particular honey pot site can put pressure on the locals and the area.
-Concerns about air travel: the growing concern over the impact of the increasing levels of air transport due to tourism. Plans to expand airports such as Heathrow and Standsted are particularly controversial. Apart from the direct impact on populations near airports, there is a growing concern about the contribution of air transport to climate change.
-Seaside resorts:
The continued decline of the traditional British seaside resort is resulting in high unemployment and urban blight in those resort areas.
Tourist volume
-There were 30 million visits from overseas to the UK in 2005, double the amount in 1984 and an all-time high.
-Also in 2005 Britain made 66.4 million visits abroad, three times the number in 1985. Two-thirds of these foreign visits were holidays, just under half of which were package holidays. Although the number of foreign holidays continues to rise, there has been a fall in the number of package holidays in the recent year.
Foreign visitors
-Tourism is highly seasonal with the vast majority of both domestic and foreign visits occurring between April and September. July and August are by far the busiest months. Many hotels and tourist facilities close completely in the off-season.
-The top 5 overseas markets for UK tourism were: USA with 3438000 visits USA spending £2384 million
France with 3324000 visits Germany spending £998 million
Germany with 3294000 visits Ireland spending £895 million
Ireland with 2806000 visits France spending £796 million
Spain with 1786 visits Spain spending £697 million
Attractions
In and out spending
-Spending on foreign visits reached a record £32.2 billion, a fourfold rise between 1985 and 2005 in real terms.
-According to visit Britain, total spending in 2005 was £85 billion; 80% of this was by UK residents. The importance of domestic tourist spending in the UK is sometimes overlooked.
-Spending by overseas residents: Visits to the UK - £14.2 billion
Fares to UK carriers - £2.8 billion -Total domestic and overseas visits increased from 3.4 million to 5.1 million. Total tourist spending rose from £623 million to £1216 million. Economic impact
Tourism is an important industry in the UK, accounting for 3.5% of the UK’s economy.
Over 2 million jobs are either directly or indirectly sustained by tourism activity. Directly related employment totals 1.4 million, about 5% of all jobs in the UK.
In London, tourism is the second largest (after financial services) and fastest growing sector of the economy. According to the government office for London, it accounts for 8% of its GDP and 13% of employment.
An increasing number of people in London and elsewhere in the UK now study for qualifications in travel in tourism.
While those parts of Britain attractive to foreign tourists have done well from the industry, many regional seaside resorts and experiencing difficulties.
However the southwest attracts more domestic visitors than any other region in the UK and it’s only over taken by London if overseas visitors are taken into account.
Tourism accounts for 29% of total employment in Cornwall, the highest level in the UK. People are attracted by the beautiful coastline and the high quality of the natural environment in general.