I headed to Harrogate at the weekend to celebrate with the cream of UK agents selling domestic holidays at the Travel Brit Awards.
It was fitting that we arrived on the same day the Tour de France had been through the town, and it was brilliant to see all the knitted yellow jersey bunting and spray-painted yellow bikes on almost every house or building along the route.
Latest figures show that not only are more tourists choosing the UK for breaks, they’re spending more while on holiday. And with the iconic race starting on these shores and the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow coming up, domestic operators say this year is on course to be yet another vintage one for the UK.
The Travel Brit Awards was a great showcase for the ‘holidays at home’ message that VisitEngland has done such a great job at promoting – and an opportunity that more agents are seizing.
Shearings’ Caroline Brown, chairwoman of Abta’s UK Tourism and Leisure Group, described domestic tourism as “vital to the lifeblood of travel agents”, and talking to some of the 200 agent guests, they didn’t disagree.
One told me she’d had great success marketing second holidays in the UK to her existing customers who take their main summer break overseas – something they would have previously booked direct. She described it as a revelation. And she wasn’t the only one to have uncovered a rich seam.
It seems that holidaymakers and agents alike are rediscovering what’s close to home. At Travel Weekly we were delighted to help fly the flag.