Sterling slump ‘to cut number of UK tourists’ here
The RedC survey for Tourism Ireland in Britain last week showed many Britons planning a holiday will likely reduce their spending on holiday or even not travel at all outside the UK following the Brexit vote.
The tourism body plans to target what it calls attracting the “culturally curious tourists” who are likely to be less swayed by rising costs of their holidays as sterling is worth less against the euro than before the Brexit vote.
“The depreciation of sterling against the euro since the UK referendum on Brexit means value for money will be a key message for us in Britain this year,” said Tourism Ireland chief executive Niall Gibbons.
He said the “good news” was there was plenty of air and sea routes across the Irish Sea, helping the organisation to sell Irish holidays in the UK.
“Since the EU referendum in the UK, Tourism Ireland has been monitoring developments closely, to better understand and plan for the implications of Brexit.
"Tourism Ireland believes the adverse impact of Brexit can be mitigated through a combination of aggressive overseas marketing and the continuation of existing successful wider policy initiatives,” Mr Gibbons said.
Citing separate research by Orford Economics, Tourism Ireland said Britons made 65 million overseas trips a year, but there will be 1.5 million fewer outbound trips to the rest of the world from Britain following Brexit, meaning “tourism to the island of Ireland is likely to be more impacted than to any other destination”.
The RedC survey found about half of Britons will spend less on their holidays, while over a third will cut their spending budget when they do travel.
Over a quarter of those polled will likely cut the number of days away, while under a fifth said the Brexit vote would “influence” their holiday destination.
Tourism Ireland said mainland Europe has become “the largest contributor” by revenue, while the US will soon overtake Britain as the second largest tourism revenue source.
