Tourism\u2019s importance to the British economy is highlighted in major new research from national tourism agency VisitBritain\/VisitEngland, demonstrating the industry\u2019s significant economic contribution to local communities nationwide and its potential for growth.<\/p>\n
The report \u2018Economic Value of Tourism in the United Kingdom<\/a>\u2018 shows tourism is worth \u00a3147 billion annually to the UK, about 5 percent of the national economy, when including both direct and supply chain impacts. Tourism is larger than the insurance and pensions sectors put together and employs more people than those and financial services combined. The study found that tourism generated \u00a352 billion in tax revenues for the UK Government in 2024, more than half the wages bill of the NHS in England*.<\/p>\n Tourism demonstrates its importance as a major employer, supporting nearly one in every 15 jobs across the UK, about 2.4 million jobs. The industry\u2019s value extends beyond major cities accounting for at least 5% of jobs in every region and nation of Britain. It also creates first jobs and opportunities for young people and upskills younger workers at the beginning of their careers. The industry is predicted to create an additional 175,000 jobs in the UK by 2030.<\/p>\n The value of total tourism activity in the UK is expected to reach \u00a3161 billion by 2030 in 2024 prices**, growth of 9.3% when adjusted for inflation and ahead of the UK economy overall at 8.8%. Inbound tourism is forecast to drive much of this, with growth in value of 32%, \u00a39.4 billion, between 2024 and 2030.<\/p>\n Tourism Minister, Stephanie Peacock, said:<\/p>\n \u201cFrom rich culture and historical landmarks to beautiful landscapes and coastal communities, the UK is one of the best and most visited holiday destinations in the world. Without the incredible workforce behind the tourism industry, it wouldn\u2019t be the powerhouse that it is today.<\/p>\n \u201cThe economic contribution of the tourism sector is clear, and the government is ambitious about ensuring it can continue to grow. That is why we are committed to publishing a joint growth plan with the sector in the spring.\u201d<\/p>\n VisitBritain\/VisitEngland CEO Patricia Yates said:<\/p>\n \u201cThis research underscores tourism\u2019s importance as one of the UK\u2019s most valuable industries, driving economic growth for every nation and region\u00a0and supporting our high streets, hospitality businesses, cultural institutions and our communities.\u00a0The billions in tax revenues generated by tourism also shows how spending by domestic and international visitors contributes to services that benefit everyone.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are however challenges. The decline of domestic holidays has hit coastal destinations particularly hard\u00a0as\u00a0consumers wrestle with cost-of-living pressures and businesses with the higher cost of doing business.\u00a0Longer-term international forecasts meanwhile show the UK is starting to lose its competitive position globally and inbound visits remain London-centric.<\/p>\n \u201cAs a critical driver of future growth for the UK, our priority is to work with industry and Government\u00a0to realise tourism\u2019s huge potential to bring social and economic benefits for every nation and region, creating jobs, supporting businesses and delivering prosperity for local communities.\u201d<\/p>\n The report also shows the vital role of domestic tourism in supporting rural and coastal destinations and the importance of getting more Brits to holiday at home. Eighty-four per cent of domestic overnight tourism spending is in destinations outside of London. Converting just 10% of what Brits spend on travelling abroad to holidaying at home could deliver an \u00a38 billion boost annually to the economy.\u00a0VisitEngland is set to launch a pilot domestic marketing campaign to drive breaks\u00a0to the North West\u2019s coastal destinations\u00a0in the build up to summer this year.<\/p>\n The report also examines the UK\u2019s future inbound visitor source markets and trends. It shows the continued importance of the USA, forecast to be worth \u00a37.6 billion to the UK economy in 2026 and accounting for more than \u00a31 in every \u00a35 of inbound visitor spending. Tourism to the UK from emerging markets including China and India is predicted to grow rapidly, by 12% annually combined by 2030. Looking to the Gulf, the UK already captures almost a third, 30%, of all trips to Western Europe from the high spending Qatar, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates markets.<\/p>\n Findings from the Economic Value of Tourism in the United Kingdom report are being shared with the UK Government to inform policymaking and to track tourism\u2019s development over time, in line with VisitBritain\/VisitEngland\u2019s statutory role to provide expert advice and insights to industry and government.<\/p>\n For more on VistBritain<\/a> and VisitEngland<\/a>, follow the links.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tourism\u2019s importance to the British economy is highlighted in major new research from national tourism agency VisitBritain\/VisitEngland, demonstrating…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":380604,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,57,58,50,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-380603","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-kingdom","tag-gb","tag-great-britain","tag-greatbritain","tag-news","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/380603","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=380603"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/380603\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/380604"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=380603"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=380603"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=380603"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}