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Northern promise: gift experiences and short breaks are on the rise!

British tourist statistics have indicated a growth in the domestic tourism sector, with holiday spend figures the highest recorded in recent years.

According to figures released by the Great Britain Tourism Survey (GBTS), Britons are taking advantage of what is on offer locally rather than travelling abroad with 2012 holiday expenditure reaching a recent high of £11 billion.

Local allure

In 2012, Britons took 104 million overnight trips within England showing that it is not necessary to travel overseas in order to get a change of scenery.

This figure translates into 310 million bednights with revenue of £20 billion. In terms of purpose, 63% of breaks were made for leisure reasons and 83% of visits took place within England.

It isn’t solely tourism stats which point to a trend towards short breaks though. Industry sources say that gift experiences of days out, weekend breaks are gaining popularity too.

The attractions of northern counties are evident in the strong presence of regions like Durham, Cumbria, Yorkshire and Northumberland and in accommodation offered by gift experience companies offering short breaks and day trips.

Recent travel research has shown that several short breaks, both domestic and outbound, throughout the year are more popular than a few long ones.

Buying a short break as a gift offers a range of choices from overseas trips to cultural capitals such as Paris to heritage-rich locations like The Lake District and Durham.

Accolades

Events such as the annual North East England Tourism Awards highlight the achievements of regional tourist outfits. The awards comprise 15 tourism categories. Six of these cover accommodation and food while three focus on visitor experiences.

The high quality tourism and leisure product on offer locally is further reflected in the GBTS figures (the GBTS is a national consumer survey which measures the volume and value of overnight trips in the domestic tourism sector taken by people resident in Great Britain).

As with short break figures, 2012 statistics for days out were robust. Britons took 1.7 billion day trips in the UK, up from 1.5 billion the year before.

The northern regions showed impressive statistics in recent Visit England figures. Out of the top 20 cities and towns to holiday in for at least an overnight stay, six were local with Scarborough in second position only to London.

Variety

Camping, racing, golf and spa days are a sample of the types of activities available as part of the local tourism product which has been included in the product lists of gift experience companies.

The ‘value-for-money’ factor could contribute to their rise in popularity. Owing to their variety of theme, activity and length, gift experiences are tailored to most pockets so splurging on special presents is within reason.

A weekend away can start at £199 for instance while a day out can cost less than £50 – now that’s value for money!

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Grant Pettersson .