Contribution of Countryside Tourism to the UK Travel and Tourism Industry

Contribution of Countryside Tourism to the UK Travel and Tourism Industry

Across the UK there are 4 main categories of tourist and visitor attractions. These categories are:

· Large City/Large Town,

· Seaside,

· Countryside/Village,

· Small Town.

The table above shows that; domestic trips to the countryside area, has now gone into second place out of the 4 categories of tourist and visitor attractions.

Over recent years (since 2000) there has been a slight decrease from

24% (2000) to 22% (2003). For day trips across the UK Cities are more popular amongst tourists. This could be for a number of reasons like;

· More spending opportunities,

· More shopping/activity facilities etc.

The table above talks about Domestic Holidays. As shown above the countryside category accounts for at least a quarter of all holidays in terms of the 4 different holiday destinations. It is seen as equally important to the Travel and Tourism Industry in the UK. It is a close third in the ranking behind the categories; Large City/Large

Town and Seaside.

The table above also shows the percentage of spend at these destinations. In the countryside category spending is quite lower in comparison to the top 2 categories; Large City/Large Town and Seaside.

This again could be for a number of reasons like;

* Fewer shopping opportunities in the countryside compared to the other categories,

* Also the activities on offer in the countryside are usually free

The Economic Impact of Recreation and Tourism in the English

Countryside

The English countryside attracts a huge amount of tourists every year.

In 1998, visitors to the countryside spent £11.5 billion. This consequently generated 340,000 jobs. Visitor spending in the countryside rose in real terms ...

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Britain should advertise the British countryside and remote coastline a lot more abroad on things like TV, posters, in travel agents etc.

This would improve the amount of visitor spend from overseas by a lot because there is a lot of potential growth from the 94% of overseas visitors who just visit UK cities.

Day visitors to the UK countryside: In 1998 day visits to the UK countryside and remote coastline survey indicated that 1,253 million people went on leisure day visits from home to the countryside, together with an estimated 90 million visits to open coastline. A total of 1,343 million day trips or 25% of all leisure trips in

England. Expenditure associated with these trips amounted to £8,942 million. This category of tourists to the countryside is by far the most important because it generates three quarters of the total income into countryside tourism.