Tourism earnings topped £80bn

Tourism has contributed £80 billion to the UK's economy last year, partly thanks to an increased demand for accomm

Travel Insurance News - 17/10/2005

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Tourism has contributed £80 billion to the UK's economy last year, partly thanks to an increased demand for accommodation at airport hotels, according to new figures.

The British Hospitality Association (BHA) has released information showing that overnight accommodation has contributed to this greatly, with nearly £10 billion being spent in airport hotels and other forms of accommodation.

However, eating and drinking away from home were the most significant contributors, pumping £20.1 billion and £15.9 billion into the economy respectively.

BHA chief executive Bob Cotton told the Scotsman: 'This is the first time the figures have been researched in detail.'

Now that we have a base on which to work, we will be able to examine them in future years and derive up-to-date figures for each category of expenditure.'

It is believed that the July bombings will not have a significant effect on UK tourism, with the number of inbound tourists for this year expected to exceed figures for 2004.

The BHA also revealed that more than 110 hotels will have opened in the UK between September 2004 and December 2005, so as to meet this increased demand.

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