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UKinbound: US fuelling inbound travel recovery
New research by travel trade association UKinbound finds the resurgence of the UK’s inbound sector is being led by couples and empty nesters.
However it says supply chain capacity and staffing issues could slow down the recovery.
The association, which represents over 300 UK tourism businesses that service inbound tourists, conducted its latest business barometer member survey in June/July 2022.
Run by Qa Research, businesses stated that couples and empty nesters were the fastest returning international demographic.
This is closely followed by families.
The US market is recovering the strongest, with more than one in three businesses seeing growth from this market.
In contrast, businesses were asked, what they perceive to be their biggest barriers to recovery.
Supply chain capacity was a leading concern, closely followed by staffing levels.
The UK’s international competitiveness, with rising inflation and energy costs, were also of concern.
Still, 78% of UK tourism businesses said they are confident about the upcoming 12 months, compared to just 11% in April 2020.
The survey also asked members to compare their 2022 summer forecast (July, August and September) to the same time pre-pandemic.
Over half (54%) expect international visitor bookings and numbers to be lower than pre-pandemic, while, one in five expect them to be higher.
Nearly a third of inbound tourism businesses are expecting higher revenue levels compared to pre-Covid, however this trend was not shared across all businesses.
It found 71% of attractions and 57% of tour operators expect to have lower revenue compared to pre-pandemic.
Joss Croft, CEO of UKinbound said “From couples and empty nesters to families, it’s fantastic to see international consumers returning.”
“The opening of the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham is just one of the many reasons international visitors are choosing to holiday in the UK.”
“We’ve also seen real pent-up demand from the US market, with people taking their deferred 2020 and 2021 holidays in the UK this summer.”
In 2019 the UK welcomed 40.8 million international visitors.
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