VisitBritain reveals predictions for tourism in 2020
6th January 2020
VisitBritain have released their forecast for 2020 which predicts an influx of inbound tourism to the UK in 2020. The forecast is for spending to grow by 6.6% to £26.6bn and for visits to grow by 2.9% to 39.7m. Should this come to fruition, both spending and visits will reach new records in 2020.
VisitBritain’s forecast for the value and volume of inbound tourism is released towards the end of every year with a review taking place in the middle of each year. The revised forecast for 2019 has shown that the value of inbound visitors spending to have grown to £25 billion and the number of inbound visits has grown to 38.5 million. If realised, this would be a new record for spending, beating the £24.5bn achieved in 2017. It would be the second highest number of visits seen after the record set in 2017.
The VisitBritain press release on the subject states: “The 2020 forecast is based on the assumption that Brexit will take place on January 31st, that the UK will proceed smoothly to a transition period and there will be no major disruptions to travel, and no major negative impacts that would discourage significant numbers of potential visitors. The forecast assumes that there will not be a no-deal Brexit and the UK will avoid associated problems with border queues.
“The forecast also assumes no major disruptions or fears of disruptions as the UK approaches the end of the transition period at the end of December 2020.
“While this forecast concentrates on inbound demand, Brexit creates many uncertainties for the supply side too, such as the status of migrant workers. This is a major concern for the industry given the reliance on EU migrant workforce with some in hospitality reporting difficulties retaining and recruiting EU nationals on their staff.”
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Infographics from VisitBritain.