In 2023, the travel market in the United Kingdom experienced significant growth, with gross bookings increasing 19%, driven by robust expansion in online bookings, mobile transactions and key sectors like airlines and car rentals.
The impact of the increase in the National Living Wage (NLW) on labour costs in 2024 is forecast to hit UK hotels, particularly in the regions. This will put the spotlight once again on the need for top line growth and smarter cost control to maintain or improve profitability.
Forward-looking data suggests stable growth in UK hotel top-line performance will build on a 15% rise in RevPAR in 2023, helping to offset rising operating costs.
Read on for a snapshot of the key hospitality market insights from the Christie & Co annual Business Outlook 2024 Report.
While continued optimism in the strength of the UK staycation and business travel is driving record levels of hotel development, we expect this to be met by waning demand. The PwC UK Hotels Forecast 2023-2024 shows this increase in supply comes as the post-Covid 'revenge travel' bounce fades, inflationary pressures reduce and the UK economy sits firmly in the doldrums.
New ONS figures show that visits increased 112% year-on-year, generating £30 billion in revenue, but remain 9% down on 2019 levels.
ABTA’s latest Holiday Habits report, published today (31 October), shows strong demand for – and confidence in taking – overseas holidays, despite ongoing pressure from the cost-of-living squeeze.
According to the latest UKHospitality Quarterly Sales Tracker, turnover was up 6.7% in the last year to £137 billion but, compared to 2019, remains almost 20% behind in real terms, when accounting for inflation.
Travel & Tourism back on its feet and set to exceed 2019; Over 1.1MN more Travel & Tourism jobs in the UK last year – 1 in 9 of all jobs; International visitor spend up more than 300%
The latest air ticketing data from ForwardKeys paints an optimistic picture for the UK outbound travel market this Autumn Half-Term holiday period. Year-to-date tickets issued for international Half-Term travel from the UK are currently just 6% behind the comparative period in 2019 and 37% ahead of last year.