Ordnance Survey – Great Britain's national mapping agency

British holidaymakers keep it domestic

08 May 2008

The UK is an increasingly popular destination for holidaymakers looking to save money and explore the countryside, according to the Association of Independent Tour Operators (AITO).

With the added benefit of saving on air miles and going green, domestic holidays, it seems, could be on the rise.

According to an AITO spokesperson, there is even a tendency to split annual holidays, taking one in the UK and one farther afield.

‘Both with the credit crunch and possibly environmental concerns as well, people are looking at their carbon footprint and deciding “I’ll take my one long holiday, and possibly offset the emissions as well, but the other holiday we’ll take in the UK”,’ he explained.

‘The weather is improving in the UK and people are deciding they’ll take one [holiday] in the UK because it’s possibly cheaper, there’s less stress involved travelling to airports and they could possibly take the train. I think the UK has great scope for holidays.’

According to the UK Tourism Survey, 79.2 million domestic holidays were taken in 2006.

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