New figures reveal that the number of foreign trips made by British people has fallen at the fastest rate since the 1970s in 2009. The report found that there were 58.6 million trips, compared to 69 million in 2008.
ONS says the plummeting figures come after years of steady growth with trips abroad having grown by 4% on average per year in the past 25 years.
It seems likely that 2010 will also reveal a downward trend in foreign holidays by the Brits – while the staycation becomes an even firmer favourite in the UK.
Just last week we heard about the collapse of another travel firm, Goldtrail, and there are further strike threats at six UK airports. More than 6,000 members based at BAA airports, including Heathrow, are in a dispute over pay. This all comes on the back of the Icelandic volcano ash chaos and strike action taken by BA workers.
So much to discover in Scotland:
So many more people are choosing to stay in the UK for the holiday instead of risking an overseas vacation headache.
Anecdotally we're hearing from so many holiday companies in Scotland who are seeing an increase in stay-at-home holidaymakers. And many of our customers – we're pretty much fully booked for the summer – tell us that they feel happier spending money on a holiday at home because it feels less risky. The sunnier start to the summer also encouraged more people to choose outdoors-type holidays, such as camping and campervanning.
We're hoping that the more people who see what Scotland has to offer – and campervanning is a fantastic way to see the great outdoors – the greater the increase in the staycation in years to come. Why not check out our Big Tree great adventure section?
