Staycation trend confirmed by official figures
August 15, 2009
In June, UK holidaymakers made one million fewer trips overseas than they did during the same month in 2008, according to official figures recently released.
The figures, provided by the Office of National Statistics, show a sharp drop in the number of Britons travelling overseas during the month of June, attributed to the Met Office promise of a “barbeque summer”.
June’s 4.87 million total overseas visits was the lowest monthly figure seen since July of 2002, and a drop of 17 per cent from the 5.98 million visits recorded in June of 2008.
The reluctance to travel abroad was not only related to the expectation of sunny weather – it was also influenced by the credit crunch and the weak position of the pound against the euro and the US dollar.
During the three-month period of April-June, 13 million visits by Britons to Europe were recorded, as compared with 14.9 million for the same three-month period last year.
Visits to North America during the same period dropped from 1.2 million in 2008 to 930,000 this year.
These figures do not take into account, however, a surge that is being seen in the late-July through August period, as the sunny summer forecast has turned into a rainy reality.
For more information on this article please visit www.telegraph.co.uk.
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