TOURISM DATA REPORT JANUARY 2020
Our quarterly newsletter shares the latest tourism information for the Yorkshire and Humber region. This edition includes: • Visitor Numbers and Spend • Accommodation Occupancy and Revenue • Tourism Sources • International Tourism • Brexit and Tourism • Accessible Tourism • Christmas Activity
Welcome to our Tourism Data Report We compile this quarterly newsletter to bring you a range of tourism data and insight for the Yorkshire and Humber region as well as England. We have selected findings that we feel are important to highlight and will be of use to you and your business from an extensive selection of reports that are available on the Visit Britain website. If you are interested in finding out more, go to www.visitbritain.org We will also include updates on recent Welcome to Yorkshire activity and how it has helped visitor growth and promotion in the region.
COVER IMAGE: Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal Water Garden Š NYMNPA/Andrew Butler.
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Please note that the latest 2018 & 2019 results are subject to minor changes.
VISITOR NUMBERS AND SPEND For Yorkshire and Humber, the first quarter of 2019 saw a significant year on year decrease in trips, spend and bed nights across domestic and inbound tourism with the county’s performance behind the the negative trends for England as a whole. However, Quarter 2 was much better with areas of significant growth both for Yorkshire and Humber and England in particular for domestic tourism. In fact, Yorkshire and Humber performed better than England for inbound and domestic bed nights and domestic spend.
TABLE 1: VISITOR NUMBERS AND SPEND QUARTER ONE & TWO UPDATE – JANUARY TO JUNE 2019 TRIPS 2018 2019 % change January - March 2019 Inbound Tourism - England 6.84m 8.61m 25.88% Inbound Tourism - Y&H 291,710 265,560 -8.96% Domestic Tourism - England 20.11m 18.32m -8.9% Domestic Tourism - Y&H 2.05m 1.65m -19.51% April - June 2019 Inbound Tourism - England 8.12m 9.99m 23.03% Inbound Tourism - Y&H 352,020 285,790 -18.81% Domestic Tourism - England 25.25m 27.46m 8.75% Domestic Tourism - Y&H 2.60m 2.59m -0.38% SPEND 2018 Inbound Tourism - England 3.97b Inbound Tourism - Y&H 99.58m Domestic Tourism - England 3.45b Domestic Tourism - Y&H 298m Inbound Tourism - England 5.16b Inbound Tourism - Y&H 127.07m Domestic Tourism - England 5.13b Domestic Tourism - Y&H 419m
2019 January - March 2019 3.94b 76.59m 3.53b 246m April - June 2019 5.3b 98.88m 5.28b 473m
% change
2019 January - March 2019 43.39m 1.48m 44.76m 4.01m April - June 2019 55.06m 2.33m 78.7m 7.7m
% change
-0.76% -23.09% 2.32% -17.45% 2.71% -22.18% 2.92% 12.89%
BED NIGHTS 2018 Inbound Tourism - England 44.78m Inbound Tourism - Y&H 2.18m Domestic Tourism - England 53.7m Domestic Tourism - Y&H 6.85m Inbound Tourism - England 61.48m Inbound Tourism - Y&H 1.89m Domestic Tourism - England 75.83m Domestic Tourism - Y&H 6.5m
-3.1% -32.11% -16.65% -41.46% -10.44% 23.28% 3.78% 18.46%
Source: Visit England, 2019 m - million b - billion Y&H - Yorkshire & Humber
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Please note that the latest 2018 & 2019 results are subject to minor changes.
ACCOMMODATION OCCUPANCY AND REVENUE 2019 All the indicators show growth in the months of July and August year on year. Interestingly, accommodation performance on the whole is more buoyant in July than August, which includes the school holiday period. As we move into autumn the figures across all measures continue to show an upward trend. Key terms: * Average Daily Rate (ADR) - This is the average rate paid for rooms sold. It is calculated by dividing room revenue by rooms sold, i.e. ADR = Room Revenue / Rooms Sold. ** Revenue per Available Room (RevPAR) - This is the revenue generated from the sale of actual rooms. RevPAR can be calculated by using one of the following formulas - total revenue from guest rooms / total number of available rooms or Occupancy x ADR
TABLE 2: YORKSHIRE AND HUMBER OCCUPANCY AND REVENUE JANUARY - AUGUST 2019 VERSUS 2018 MONTH
ROOM OCC (19)
ROOM OCC (18)
January 60% February 74% March 72% April 75% May 76% June 79% July 83% August 81% September 82% October 80%
BEDSPACE OCC (19)
61% 71% 69% 74% 75% 78% 80% 79% 80% 77%
BEDSPACE ADR (19) ADR (18) OCC (18)
43% 53% 51% 55% 55% 56% 58% 61% 57% 58%
43% 50% 50% 53% 54% 56% 57% 59% 57% 55%
RevPAR RevPAR (19) (18)
£56.31 £57.00 £33.89 £34.69 £58.76 £59.91 £42.03 £42.29 £60.10 £61.02 £43.23 £42.25 £61.79 £61.90 £46.38 £45.53 £64.75 £65.03 £49.19 £48.61 £66.89 £65.90 £52.84 £51.29 £67.98 £67.02 £56.10 £56.10 £66.41 £63.00 £53.54 £49.60 £67.01 £66.41 £54.80 £53.19 £63.89 £64.44 £50.95 £49.92
Source: Visit England, Accommodation Occupancy 2019
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Please note that the latest 2018 & 2019 results are subject to minor changes.
TOURISM SOURCES This table shows for each region the significance of tourism from within its own region both in terms of the number of overnight trips and expenditure. For Yorkshire, a third of all overnight tourist trips to Yorkshire were made by residents of Yorkshire and account for 1.663 million visits and £286 million of expenditure. The significance of these numbers further reinforces the message of how important Yorkshire residents are to the Yorkshire tourism economy.
TABLE 3: REGION OF RESIDENCE = REGION VISITED ENGLAND HOLIDAY TRIPS North East England North West England Yorkshire and Humber East Midlands West Midlands East of England South East England South West England
% of Overnight Trips 31.6% 31.7% 33.1% 30.0% 25.2% 35.5% 33.9% 29.0%
No of Trips (millions) 0.601 2.435 1.663 0.778 0.580 1.254 0.128 2.356
% of Expenditure 19.9% 26.7% 29.0% 23.1% 20.7% 28.8% 31.1% 19.5%
Expenditure (£ millions) £96 £486 £286 £155 £96 £271 £481 £669
Source: Visit England 2019
0.6%
FIGURE 1: Y&H HOLIDAY EXPENDITURE SOURCES 2018 Figure 1 illustrates the percent of all domestic tourism expenditure in Yorkshire and Humber from different regions of the UK in 2018. Interestingly, the highest region of expenditure was from Yorkshire and Humber itself, providing nearly double the expenditure of the next best performing region, the East Midlands. The lowest levels of tourism expenditure were from Wales, closely followed by Scotland and South West England.
Scotland
1% 5%
4%
8.1%
6.2% 16.5%
6.1%
West Midlands
12.6% Wales
East
North East
London
13.3% 26.5%
North West
South East
Yorkshire
South West
East Midlands
Source: Visit England, 2019
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Please note that the latest 2018 & 2019 results are subject to minor changes.
INTERNATIONAL TOURISM Table 4 illustrates the top 20 inbound markets in the UK. The USA ranks as the number 1 market for number of visitors, number of nights and spend, overtaking France for the first time as the largest inbound source market for
visits. Europe however continues to dominate as the main continent for travellers to the UK with 14 of the top 20 destinations. Visitors from Germany and France are the second and third highest spenders in the UK respectively.
TABLE 4: TOP 20 MARKETS TO THE UK BY VOLUME OF VISITS COUNTRY OF RESIDENCE VISITS VISITS NIGHTS NIGHTS SPEND SPEND (000s) RANK (000s) RANK (£M) RANK USA France Germany Irish Republic Spain Netherlands Poland Italy Belgium Australia Romania Canada Sweden Switzerland Denmark Norway India Hungary
3,877 3,693 3,262 2,782 2,530 1,954 1,817 1,808 1,116 1,003 987 850 827 808 735 673 511 437
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
28,981 18,873 17,577 8,347 15,185 8,547 12,326 9,500 3,978 12,618 12,421 7,759 3,836 5,238 3,101 3,015 10,449 3,107
1 2 3 11 4 10 7 9 16 5 6 12 17 15 20 21 8 19
3,378 1,386 1,520 895 1,110 716 453 784 399 1,044 479 676 447 460 379 394 491 138
1 3 2 6 4 8 15 7 18 5 13 9 16 14 21 19 12 38
Source: Visit Britain, 2019
Table 5 identifies the top 5 inbound markets for Yorkshire between 2016-18. The most popular activities undertaken by the top inbound source market, Poland, were shopping, eating in pubs and restaurants, socialising with locals and visiting famous monuments and buildings. Most trips were taken to visit friends and relatives. For German travellers, the second largest inbound source market for visits, the primary reasons for travel was either holiday or business
with shopping, going to a pub and exploring famous monuments and buildings the top activities. Whilst the USA is not the top market for the number of visitors, these travellers are the highest spenders, spending £43 million more than Germans who are the second highest spenders. Culture and history are strong attractors for Americans, and they are more likely to visit museums, art galleries, historic houses and castles.
TABLE 5: YORKSHIRE TOP 5 MARKETS FROM 2016 - 2018 Poland Germany USA France Ireland
Visitors Spend (£ millions) 403,000 82 328,000 126 327,000 169 262,000 92 259,000 93
Source: Visit Britain, 2019
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Please note that the latest 2018 & 2019 results are subject to minor changes.
HOW TO ATTRACT MORE INTERNATIONAL VISITORS Here are some key themes to focus your communication on to grow awareness and appeal.
VISITBRITAIN’S 2020 INBOUND TOURISM FORECAST This January, VisitBritain have issued their revised forecast for Inbound tourism for the full year 2019. The headlines from the forecasted numbers are that inbound visitor spending will grow by 9.1% to £25bn and the number of inbound visits will grow by 1.7% to £38.5m. You can find the full report and rationale at VisitBritain.
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Please note that the latest 2018 & 2019 results are subject to minor changes.
THE POTENTIAL IMPACTS OF BREXIT ON UK TOURISM There are potential impacts of Brexit on the UK tourism industry and consequently effects on the Yorkshire region. Here are six points for you to consider for your business from a variety of independent sources: • Destination attractiveness – since the 2016 vote to leave the EU, a weaker pound has led to a surge in travel to the UK1. Tourism has benefitted, but only time will tell if this impact is long-lasting. Some travellers use the UK as a hub for onward travel to other European destinations. If travel arrangements become complicated post-Brexit, this might result in fewer visitors2. Whilst the UK has become more attractive to non-EU travellers, it has not yet been determined what the impact of Brexit will be on the European travel market to the UK3. • Employment - the tourism industry is dependent on labour from the EU4. UKinbound (2019)5 reported that 3.8% of the Yorkshire and Humberside labour market were EU nationals aged 16 and over. ONS (2019)6 identified that in the UK most EU workers in tourism are aged 24-34 (41%). It is estimated that 20% work in accommodation, 12% in food and beverage service whilst 19% are chefs. The report also highlighted that EU workers are more likely to work in front-line roles such as servers, and catering assistants compared to British nationals. According to a briefing paper by the House of Commons (2019)7 this might be an opportunity for the employment of more UK nationals in the tourism industry. However, if these jobs are not recruited to, it might cause a disparate impact based on the following scenario: unfilled vacancies lead to an increase in demand for tourism workers which leads to higher wages. UK Hospitality (2018; 2019)8 has stated that if this situation occurs, these costs will be passed on to the consumer resulting in the UK becoming a less desirable destination to visit, leading to business closures.
[1] BBC News (2017). Lonely Planet tells the world to visit cheap Britain. Retrieved from https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-41736420 The Independent (2017). Number of visitors to Britain hits record high as weak pound lures tourists. Retrieved from https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/ uk-visitor-numbers-tourism-record-high-brexit-weak-pound-sterling-tourists-eueuro-dollar-a8060181.html [2] Politcio (2018). Commission to EU27: Prepare airports for a ‘no-deal’ Brexit. Retrieved from https://www.politico.eu/article/airlines-customs-commission-to-eu27prepare-airports-cargo-shipping-for-a-no-deal-brexit/ [3] The Times (2018). More Chinese tourists visiting Britain but Brexit deters French, Germans and Italians. Retrieved from https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/morechinese-tourists-visiting-britain-but-brexit-deters-french-germans-and-italiansj2xvlxmww [4] House of Commons Library Briefing Paper (2017). Employment of other EU nationals in the UK. Retrieved from https://researchbriefings.parliament.uk/ ResearchBriefing/Summary/CBP-8069 [5] UKinbound (2019). A perfect storm? The end of Free Movement and its impact on the UK tourism workforce. London: UKinbound [6] ONS (2019). Migration Statistics Quarterly Report August 2019. Retrieved from https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/ internationalmigration/articles/understandingdifferentmigrationdatasources/ augustprogressreport [7] House of Commons Library (2019). Tourism: statistics and policy. Briefing Paper Number 06022, 24 September 2019. Retrieved from https://researchbriefings. parliament.uk/ResearchBriefing/Summary/SN06022 [8] UK Hospitality (2018). New Government migration proposals will devastate hospitality. Retrieved from https://www.ukhospitality.org.uk/news/430791/NewGovernment-migration-proposals-will-devastate-hospitality.htm UK Hospitality (2019). BREXIT SPECIAL - Menu of post-Brexit visas unpalatable to hospitality employers. Retrieved from https://www.ukhospitality.org.uk/ blogpost/1721400/319931/BREXIT-SPECIAL--Menu-of-post-Brexit-visas-unpalatableto-hospitality-employers [9] Cambridge & Countries Bank (2019). UK ‘staycations’ expect a boom in 2020. Retrieved from https://ccbank.co.uk/holiday-let-c-press-release/
• Holidaying at home - the weaker pound and uncertainty around travel requirements post Brexit suggest that more Brits are likely to vacation at home. 72% of UK nationals said they expected an increase in domestic holidaying in 2020 with Yorkshire expected to receive an 18% increase in staycations over the next three years (Cambridge & Countries Bank, 2019)9.
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Please note that the latest 2018 & 2019 results are subject to minor changes.
THE POTENTIAL IMPACTS OF BREXIT ON UK TOURISM • A ir access to the UK from the EU - Currently UK and EU airlines can fly without restrictions in the European Common Aviation Area. This simplifies air travel in the EU and keeps down the cost of airfares. If there are complicated air transport agreements with the EU, Brexit may lead to higher fares and flight restrictions10. • Travel and consumer protection - several areas of consumer protection related to the travel and tourism industry are subject to EU regulations. These are roaming charges, the Package Holiday Directive11, the Consumer Rights Directive12 and the European Health Insurance Card13. It is unclear if and how these laws will change post-Brexit. This further complicates the travel process and may be a deterrent to travel to the UK.
[10] House of Commons Library (2019). Tourism: statistics and policy. Briefing Paper Number 06022, 24 September 2019. Retrieved from: https://researchbriefings. parliament.uk/ResearchBriefing/Summary/SN06022 [11] Package Travel Directive. Retrieved from https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/law-topic/ consumers/travel-and-timeshare-law/package-travel-directive_en [12] Consumer Rights Directive. Retrieved from https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/lawtopic/consumers/consumer-contract-law/consumer-rights-directive_en [13] House of Commons Library (2019). Healthcare (International Arrangements) Bill 2017-19. Retrieved from https://researchbriefings.parliament.uk/ResearchBriefing/ Summary/CBP-8435 [14] House of Commons Library (2019). Tourism: statistics and policy. Briefing Paper Number 06022, 24 September 2019. Retrieved from: https://researchbriefings. parliament.uk/ResearchBriefing/Summary/SN06022
• F unding for tourism development - EU funding has been used in the UK to support the marketing and regeneration of some sites/attractions and destinations. It has not yet been determined what the impact of this potential loss of funding may mean for the tourism industry.14 The UK government has guaranteed all funding from the EU until the end of 2020.
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Please note that the latest 2018 & 2019 results are subject to minor changes.
ACCESSIBLE TOURISM Is your business ready for the Purple Pound? By 2030, one billion people across all age groups worldwide will be living with a disability and currently one fifth of the world’s population have accessibility needs (Euromonitor International, 2019). In the UK, more than 1 in 5 potential customers have a disability (Purple, 2017) whilst in the USA this is approximately 1 in 4 (Skift, 2019). In the UK, the accessible market is one-fifth of your potential customers with the market growing by 22% each year (Brodey, 2019). Whilst more people can now afford to travel, many hospitality and tourism operators are not prepared to welcome customers with accessibility needs. Accessibility includes people with physical and intellectual disabilities, anyone with mobility needs no matter the demographics and being inclusive to groups who may feel vulnerable when travelling such as students, women, black and ethnic minorities and LGBTQ. The spending power of disabled people and their families is commonly referred to as the Purple Pound. According to Purple (2017), the disabled market was thought to be worth £249 million to UK businesses per year. Overall, businesses lose around £2 billion a month because they have ignored the needs of the accessible market with 75% of disabled customers and their families leaving a UK business because of poor accessibility and/or customer service. Restaurants/pubs and clubs are losing £163 million per month because they are not adequately meeting the needs of the accessible market. Customers with access requirements tend to stay around 10% more on average at the destination and spend on average £212 compared to £195 of all other travellers (VisitEngland, 2015). These customers rarely travel alone and are accompanied usually by carers, friends or family which creates a multiplier effect (Euromonitor International, 2019). These figures present a strong case for your business to boost its revenue by meeting this need of this growing and important market.
References: Brodey, D. (2019). People With Disabilities Want To Help Make Over The Travel Industry. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/denisebrodey/2019/07/21/people-withdisabilities-want-to-help-make-over-the-travel-industry/#68688473513b Euromonitor International (2019). Megatrends Shaping the Future of Travel 2019 Edition. Retrieved from https://go.euromonitor.com/WTM19.html Purple (2017). The Purple Pound Infographic. Retrieved from https://wearepurple.org.uk/wpcontent/uploads/2018/01/The_Purple_Pound-1024x683.jpg) Skift (2019). The Business Imperative for Inclusive Hospitality. Retrieved from https://skift. com/2019/10/01/new-report-the-business-imperative-for-inclusive-hospitality/ VisitEngland (2015). The Purple Pound: Volume and Value of Accessible Tourism in England. Retrieved from https://www.visitbritain.org/sites/default/files/vb-corporate/DocumentsLibrary/ve_purplepound2015.pdf).
Here at Welcome to Yorkshire we are committed to supporting an accessible Yorkshire for all and are working alongside AccessAble and Access For All UK to provide detailed information for visitors with accessibility needs so they can work out if a place is accessible for them. Go to yorkshire.com/accessible-yorkshire to find out more. For the first time we introduced an award for Accessible and Inclusive Tourism at our annual White Rose Awards in November 2019. There was as fantastic array of business in contention for this award, all brought together by the commitment to welcoming everyone to enjoy what they have to offer. The worthy winner was The Deep, Hull who scooped the gong for their holistic approach and highly personalised customer service for everyone, whatever their access needs may be.
For further information about The Purple Pound and the volume and value of accessible tourism in England, take a look at this infographic.
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WELCOME TO YORKSHIRE EVENTS Throughout the year Welcome to Yorkshire attend many events across the county. These range from agricultural shows, food and drink events and a mixture of large and small events. These events provide Welcome to Yorkshire the opportunity to engage with the public, distribute our literature, talk about Yorkshire, promote our brand and push people to yorkshire.com for more information on visiting our county.
In numbers
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Welcome to Yorkshire attended 20 events in county.
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Welcome to Yorkshire attended six events out of county.
499,643 1.25m 499, 643 people came to in county events.
1,257, 504 people came to these out of county events.
44
26
2,422
1,000
37
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We spent 44 days at in county events.
There were 2,422 other exhibitors at these events.
Total number of stand partners at these in county events.
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We spent 26 days at out of county events.
There were 1,000 other exhibitors at these events.
Total number of stand partners at these out of county events.
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CHRISTMAS ACTIVITY A survey carried out by Visit England since 2014 has asked a representative sample of GB consumers what activities they planned to undertake during the Christmas and New Year period. This data allows thse popularity of trends and activities to be tracked. For the last five years visiting friends and family has been the most popular activity during the festive period, closely followed by going out for a meal. There is good news for
retailers in the county, as visiting a Christmas market and shopping at post-Christmas sales was also in the top four activities meaning that the positive impact of the festive season would be potentially felt by retailers throughout Christmas and into the New Year. Interestingly attending visitor attractions during the festive period was one of the least popular activities ranging from only 6-9% over the last five years.
TABLE 6: PLANNED ACTIVITIES OVER CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR – 2014 TO 2018 ACTIVITIES PLANNED
2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 % % % % %
Visiting friends and family Going out for a meal Shopping at post-Christmas sales Visit a Christmas market Going for a night out to a bar, pub and/or club Go out for entertainment such as cinema, concert or theatre Undertake outdoor activities such as walking, cycling etc. Go out for Christmas activities e.g. ice skating, pantomime, visiting Santa etc. Go on a general day out to explore an area you don’t normally visit Watching live sporting events (not on TV) Visit a visitor attraction such as a historic house, theme park, museum, zoo etc. Attend a special public event such as a festival, exhibition etc. None of the above
61% 43% 37% 31% 27% 24% 23% 20% 11% 10% 8% 7% 11%
60% 47% 36% 33% 25% 21% 23% 19% 12% 10% 6% 6% 14%
64% 50% 38% 32% 28% 23% 27% 21% 14% 12% 8% 9% 10%
69% 50% 42% 33% 30% 26% 27% 21% 15% 12% 9% 8% 11%
64% 42% 35% 26% 25% 24% 24% 17% 13% 10% 7% 6% 10%
Source: Visit Britain, 2018, Domestic Trip Tracker - Christmas & New Year 2018. London: Visit Britain
Welcome to Yorkshire - Christmas Campaigns Online In December 2019, our Christmas microsite attracted 466,000 page views, and 585,000 since 1st September. The Christmas Markets pages attracted 17,500 page views in December and 53,000 since 1st September. 2019 saw an increase of 24% in visits to yorkshire.com.
Print November saw the launch of our Festive Guide – jam packed with a broad range of festive themed activities, attractions and events. 50,000 copies of the guide were produced with 40,000 distributed in county in early November through The Guardian magazine.
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For further information: Contact T 0114 225 2095 Ed .j.egan@shu.ac.uk Go to www.visitbritain.org to explore a wide range of tourism insight reports.
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