Long weekend will give economy much-needed increase in spending

More than 7.4 million people in Britain are planning a holiday trip within the country over the Easter weekend, bringing an estimated 1.8 billion pound ($2.34 billion) boost to the economy, said the United Kingdom's tourism agency.

The latest data in VisitBritain's Easter Trip-Tracker survey showed that the number of British people set to travel over the upcoming holiday is on a par with pre-pandemic figures for Easter 2019, which were the highest since the survey began.

The figures in 2019 were a significant increase on 2018 when 4.8 million Brits were planning an overnight holiday trip for the long weekend. In 2017, the figure was 6.6 million.

Patricia Yates, the agency's deputy chief executive said: "It is great to see so many people are planning a holiday at home for the Easter weekend, getting out and exploring the outstanding accommodation, events and attractions here on our doorstep whether enjoying a trip to the seaside, countryside or on a city break.

"This is the first Easter since 2019, pre-pandemic, that the industry has been able to fully trade and the long weekend will be critical in providing businesses and destinations with much-needed cashflow as the season gets underway."

Of those definitely planning an overnight trip in England during Easter, the majority were planning a short break of one to three nights.

The survey also showed that a further 3.4 million people were undecided about whether to take an overnight holiday trip in the UK during the Easter weekend. The top reasons were "waiting to see if I can afford it" followed by "waiting to see what the weather is like "and "not sure where I'd like to go".

Looking at day-trips in England, almost a quarter of those surveyed were definitely planning one during the Easter weekend.

The latest data from the agency's domestic consumer sentiment research on travel, published in March, shows increasing confidence levels in the ability to take a domestic overnight trip, highlighting the importance of extending the tourism season.

More than 70 percent of those surveyed were confident in the ability to take a UK overnight trip in April to June, and almost one-third intend to take more UK breaks this year than last.

VisitBritain has estimated the loss to the economy in domestic tourism spending in Britain in 2020 and 2021 combined to be more than 97 billion pounds.

Dimitrios Buhalis, deputy director of the international center for tourism and hospitality research at Bournemouth University, said: "There is a huge demand for travel services since many people have not been able to travel for two years due to COVID. People realized how important traveling is for their mental health and for connecting with loved ones."

He added: "Most of the traveling will happen within continents and European travel will be prevailing as many distant places especially in Asia remain closed... To the degree that some countries remain closed to travelers, tourists will find travel experiences in other places."

Energy and fuel costs have led to an increase in prices for airline tickets and other services, and Buhalis said this is an issue that the tourism industry will have to address.