The UK’s economic revival is being hampered by the lack of inbound travel while flights to amber list countries take off, says the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC).
New data collected by travel and analytics firm and WTTC knowledge partner ForwardKeys, reveals the highest week-on-week percentage increases in tickets booked were to Germany, which were up by 113 percent; to Croatia up by 69 percent; Sweden by 68 percent; Portugal by 65 percent and Albania, up by 64 percent.
The data shows airline tickets booked for international trips out of the UK increased an average of 24 percent in the week to 13 July, compared to the previous week.
Weekly flight tickets for future travel from the UK to traditional destinations have exceeded pre-pandemic levels, with Greece the most popular destination, up 211 percent compared to 2019. The Bahamas follows closely, with tickets up 161 percent on pre-pandemic levels. Croatia has also reached pre-pandemic weekly ticketing levels in the last week (107 percent) while tickets for travel to Spain, which reached 88 percent of 2019 levels, are increasing.
This research suggests that the British economy, which relies on international visitor spend, has a lack of reciprocal inbound travel. Based on 2019 levels, the lack of inbound international visitors through July, due to concern over rising Coronavirus cases and the UK Government’s quarantine rules, has caused the UK economy to lose £639m each day.
According to WTTC’s 2021 Economic Impact Report (EIR) international visitor spend in 2019, before the pandemic struck, added £35.6bn to the UK economy, or 4.9 percent of total exports. This decreased to £10.1bn in 2020 due to the travel restrictions around the world, contributing to 1.7 percent of total exports. Overall, this represented a collapse of 71.6 percent, or £25.5bn.
Virginia Messina (pictured), senior vice president WTTC, said: “The UK’s economic recovery is going to continue to be hampered by the lack of inbound international visitors while UK travellers are leaving the UK in increasing numbers. Whilst staycations are helping boost the economy, it is not nearly enough to replace the £639m which is being lost every day.”
Messina added: “If the situation continues, the UK will lose out on much needed revenues which international travel provides, benefitting every level of the economy far beyond the Travel & Tourism sector. If every day travel is curbed, more cash-strapped Travel & Tourism businesses face even greater strain pushing them to the brink of bankruptcy. Meanwhile, Europe enjoys the financial benefits of British travellers returning to their markets.”
Juan Gómez Garcia, senior insight expert, ForwardKeys, commented: “It is reassuring to see the UK issued tickets increase for summer travel, the question remains. Will those figures manage to surpass pre-pandemic levels in those destinations?”
