The amount spent on overnight domestic holiday trips in England rose by 23% to a record £1.8 billion in the first quarter of the year.
The number of domestic overnight holiday trips also set a new record for a first quarter with 7.3 million visits, up 10% compared to the same period in 2015, latest figures from VisitEngland show.
The data for the first three months of the year come on the back of a strong 2015 for domestic holidays in England with trip volumes and spending both up by 7%.
Domestic overnight tourism in England across all trips in 2015 saw a record-breaking £19.6 billion spent and the highest number of journeys since 2012.
The first quarter numbers follow VisitEngland establishing a domestic marketing campaign for 2016 to get more people to take domestic short breaks.
The campaign encourages people to share images of their own holiday moments in the UK using the hashtag #OMGB, some of which are shared across VisitEngland and VisitBritain’s Twitter, Instagram and Facebook platforms.
VisitBritain/VisitEngland director Patricia Yates said:
“This is an incredibly positive start to the year as we continue our #OMGB ‘Home of Amazing Moments’ campaign in the build-up to summer, encouraging people to explore more of our regions and driving tourism, and its economic benefits, across the whole of England.”