Britons made 870 million tourism day trips and spent £37.4 billion in England in 2005, according to Natural England’s new Leisure Visits Survey.
Although the number of trips taken in England was down 5%, spending has risen by 21% since 2003 to £37.4 billion.
A quarter of all leisure trips were for tourism purposes, up from 16% in 2003.
The survey also revealed that inland city and town destinations are most popular for Britons, with 674 million trips (77%) last year, while 136 million (16%) were to the countryside, 47 million (5%) to a seaside town or city and 15 million (2%) to the coast.
While more than half (£20.1 billion) is spent on clothes, meals and alcohol, £4.3 billion goes on gifts and souvenirs, £2.9 billion on admission tickets and a significant £1.1 billion on local products.
VisitBritain chief executive Tom Wright said: “Day trips in England are an important part of our visitor economy and, alongside inbound and domestic overnight visits, contribute £74 billion to the UK’s economy.
“The new survey shows that day visits are growing from strength to strength despite the challenges of 2005 and reflect the changing nature of tourism as city breaks continue to rise in popularity.”
By Bev Fearis
