Travel and tourism competes with the oil and motor industries as one of the largest industries in the world.

Travel and tourism competes with the oil and motor industries as one of the largest industries in the world. From 2004 onwards, there should be a return to traditional long-term growth rates in the travel and toursim sectors.

(PRWEB) September 21, 2003 --Research and Markets have announced the addition of the "Travel & Tourism Market - Market Review 2003" report to their offering.

Travel and tourism competes with the oil and motor industries as one of the largest industries in the world. This Review examines the structure of the UK industry, its place in the world market, and the demand for tourism from both UK residents and foreign visitors to the UK.

Three main markets are considered: the domestic market (tourism by UK residents within the UK), the outbound market (tourism by UK residents travelling abroad) and the inbound market (tourism by overseas residents travelling to the UK).

In 2002, UK residents spent an estimated 26.7bn on 167.4 million tourism trips (excluding day trips) within the UK. The domestic market accounted for 73.8% of all tourist trips/visits by UK residents but only 47% of nights away from home. If international fares are excluded, domestic tourism took a 49.7% share of all tourism expenditure by UK residents; including these fares, the figure was approximately 39%.

Most domestic tourist trips in the UK are made for holiday purposes, but business trips and visits to friends or relatives (VFR) are both growing in importance. Between 1998 and 2002, the number of business trips increased by 23.8% and the number of VFR trips rose by 18.8%, compared with an increase of only 10.6% in the number of holiday trips. The foot-and-mouth outbreak led to an overall reduction in demand in 2001, but business travel was affected to a lesser extent than holidays and VFR trips, because business trips are more likely to be undertaken to urban areas than to rural areas.

We forecast that demand in the domestic market will improve in 2003, despite the slowdown seen in the first few months of the year. This growth will be followed by small annual increases between 2004 and 2007.

We estimate that the number of overseas visits by UK residents increased to 59.3 million in 2002. Expenditure by these visitors, excluding international fares, was 27.07bn - slightly higher than the total for the domestic market (which includes fares).

In recent years, expenditure on outbound tourism has grown faster than disposable income as a result of the strength of sterling and the falling real cost of travel. Between 1993 and 2001, the weighted average strength of sterling increased by 19%.

Holidaymaking is the main reason that UK residents travel abroad. The underlying growth in the UK economy and geared increases in consumer leisure expenditure have resulted in a gradual increase in the proportion of outbound visits accounted for by holidays. Competition and the development of low-cost airlines have also helped to increase the demand for overseas holidays by reducing the real cost of outbound travel. At the same time, companies have tended to concentrate on their core businesses and on cost reductions in order to maintain their profitability. This has resulted in close control of business travel in many organisations.

In recent years, the proportion of holidays accounted for by inclusive tours has declined slightly, and it is likely that the main driving force behind outbound visits in 2003 will be independent leisure travel. We forecast that the outbound market will increase at a considerably faster rate than the domestic market between 2002 and 2007.

In 2002, the number of visits to the UK by overseas residents was estimated at 23.9 million. Figures from the International Passenger Survey indicate that the number of visits fell each year between 1998 and 2001. Even taking into account the improvement in 2002, the number of visits fell by 7% over the review period.

Holiday travellers are much more price-sensitive than business or VFR travellers, so the proportion of visits to the UK that were made for holiday purposes diminished as sterling strengthened. The effect was compounded in 2001 by the foot-and-mouth outbreak and the impact of the terrorist attacks on the US. Between 1998 and 2002, the number of holiday visits to the UK fell significantly, while the number of VFR and business visits increased.

We do not expect much further improvement in inbound demand in 2003. From 2004 onwards, however, there should be a return to traditional long-term growth rates.

For a complete index of this report click on http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/36348

REPORT DATA SUMMARY:
Travel & Tourism Market - Market Review 2003
Category: Travel & Tourism
URL: www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/36348

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