Brits keeping their vacations in UK

Right now it appears that consumers are being just a little too cautious.

Right now it appears that consumers are being just a little too cautious. In fact, they are so cautious that the number of Brits taking overseas holidays in the first seven months of this year has fallen 8 percent when compared to the same time last year. This information is based on the latest figures from the Office of National Statistics.

It also appears that the weakness in sterling is not playing in the UKโ€™s favor either. Most experts say that when a currency is weak, it normally brings tourists in. However, it would appear that this is not the case for the UK. Passenger arrivals from the United States fell 10 percent when compared to last year. However, international travel as a whole was lower than last years numbers.

According to Sandie Dawe, who is the chief executive of VisitBritain, said that the only winners right now are the companies related to staycations. Brits are not traveling out of the country; they are staying home and keeping their vacations in the country.

44,000 fewer people took overseas holidays in June and July of this year when compared to last year. These figures are backing earlier reports from tour operators like Thomas Cook and Tui Travel. These companies were saying that their summer sales have been weak.

Sandie Dawe went on to add that the most disappointing number was the number of people visiting the UK from North America. The United States travel trade industry was buoyant at the end of last year. Overall, they had a strong outbound market to the UK just last year, but this has not been the case at the start of this year.

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Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

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