Summer is quickly approaching and many families will be in the process of planning their summer holidays. 2009 saw the rise of the ‘staycation’ in the UK with many families choosing to go on more traditional holidays at home rather than abroad. The British tourism industry reported that there was an increase in visitors to UK seaside resorts despite the economic downturn. The ’staycation’ was launched when families stayed at home and started visiting local tourist attractions but before long they started looking for affordable accommodation across the country.

A short weekend break in a nearby city became popular as people opted to stay in hotels and serviced apartments. The majority of these travellers were couples and groups of friends out to enjoy the sights and sounds of big cities such as Bristol. There are lots of places to stay in Bristol like this but those looking for longer family holidays wanted different types of accommodation in a more rural location.

There were a couple of accommodation trends in 2009 that became noticable as it became clear that budget was having an effect on holiday maker’s decisions. A large number of caravan and mobile home owners traveled to campsites in the South of England because it was cheaper. Renting holiday cottages was the trend that appeared among those that had a greater budget to spend on their holiday.

The popularity of holiday cottages in the South of the UK has always been high especially in counties such as Devon, Hampshire and Cornwall which are prime holiday locations. Each of these counties has much to offer any tourist. Cornwall is very well known for it’s beautiful beaches, while the New Forest has some wonderful wildlife and Devon has a mix of both.

Many of the popular holiday cottage rental agents reported that last year cottages in Cornwall saw a dramatic increase in the number of rented properties. Newquay is possibly responsible for this trend as large groups of teenagers visit this area of Cornwall after they have finished their exams. This is likely to be because of the Cornish towns night life and the large amount of activities available like surf schools.

The other more popular destination was the New Forest. It is thought that cottages in the New Forest saw an increase in families visiting the area. This is likely to be down to the wildlife found in the New Forest and the number of healthy activities for children young and old to take part in. The New Forest is also well positioned allowing trips to nearby towns, cities and places of interest. The medieval city of Salisbury is nearby as well as Bournemouth with it’s beautiful beaches.

All the signs are showing that 2010 is likely to be another successful year for the UK tourism industry. The slow improvements in the economy mean that people still don’t have vast amounts of money to spend and with an increase in strikes amongst airline and railway workers many travellers feel uncertain about heading abroad. So once again the ’staycation’ could reign supreme in the UK throughout 2010 but only time will tell.

Tags: Great Britain, holiday rentals, tourism, Travel News, united kingdom

This entry was posted on Sunday, March 28th, 2010 at 12:59 am and is filed under 406. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.