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Outbound Tourism Falls By 14 Per Cent

Fri, 20 Nov 2009

British travellers made almost 10 million fewer trips abroad in the year to September, according to figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

The latest ONS Overseas Travel and Tourism data revealed that the number of overseas trips slumped by 14 per cent (9.8 million) to 60.8 million over the first 9 months of 2009, compared to the same period last year.

There was also a small 1 per cent fall in the number of visits abroad during the peak summer period (July to September).

Inbound tourism to the UK in the year to September dropped by 9 per cent to 29.9 million visitor arrivals, driven by a 24 per cent fall in business travel to Britain.

Commenting on the ONS figures, Chris Lee, head of travel at Barclays, said: "Today’s travel figures reflect an international travel market still suffering from the hang-over induced by the global recession and, for UK travellers, the effects of sterling weakness."

"Generally, while British holidaymakers that can afford one, view their annual break away as almost sacrosanct, an additional weekend city break or skiing holiday seems to have fallen by the wayside, a trend that is set to impact the industry throughout the winter.

"However, many specialist operators such as cruises and niche tour operators have held steady by providing a focused, unique offering which consumers cannot replicate on their own."
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