If you, like me, love to travel around the UK then you may be in for a bit of a surprise this year as tourism in this country is set to prosper. In a positive move for the UK tourist industry the post Brexit fall out is likely to prove a boon for UK holidays. A combination of foreign holidays becoming more expensive for UK residents, and the UK becoming cheaper for overseas visitors, all as a result of the fall seen in the pound against both the dollar and the euro, after Brexit, are likely to lead to increased demand across the country this year.
If you then factor in the continued fear over terrorist attacks, then you can see why the UK starts to become a more appealing option for people.
The immediate repercussions of this are that you are likely to see an upsurge in bookings, and therefore reduced availability as well as UK prices starting to rise as the demand increases; especially in the most popular UK holiday destinations.
Figures from Visit Britain show that the UK visitor and tourism industry was worth more than £106bn to the economy as a whole during 2015, and this is only likely to have risen since the currency changes.
But don’t panic, there are still plenty of opportunities for the older holidaymaker to get out there and enjoy all that our lovely country has to offer, without paying the earth. As many of our readers already know, travelling outside of the school holidays makes financial sense.
We also know that technology is a great disrupter for many markets – long gone are the days when you had to visit your High Street travel agents to make your holiday plans – nowadays the internet is all pervasive, and this applies to the travel industry as well.
It doesn’t take much research to find one of the many hotel booking sites that now proliferate – and with them all competing for your bookings, it’s a great way to look around and source value for money accommodation. So if you are thinking of staying in the UK this year and are looking for inspiration here are some of our recommendations:
History
If it’s history you are looking for then there are so many great interesting cities and towns in our country. Why not consider a visit to Warwick with its famous castle, home to the medieval Earls of Warwick whose reputation was such that they were said to make or break a bid for the throne.
Not far from Warwick lies the sleepy rural town of Ludlow which remains one of the most unspoilt of England’s medieval towns. From here you could take in a trip to Chester with its famous city walls and then head back to Stratford with its Shakespeare connections.
Literature
If literature is your thing then why not head to Bath, once the home of Jane Austin and the setting for her novels, Persuasion and Northanger Abbey. Or visit the beautiful parsonage of Haworth, home of the Brontë sisters, where you can step back in time to Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre. If Dickens is a favourite, then London is the obvious choice. But Kent was a favoured destination of his, he regularly holidayed in Broadstairs where the house that is said to have inspired Bleak House is now a B & B.
Television
Where to start? There are just so many. A great place would be Oxford where you can follow in the footsteps of Inspector Morse and once that’s exhausted you it’s just a short drive to Downton Abbey country.
Staying on the historical theme, then Castle Howard in North Yorkshire is not to be missed – it played a starring role in Brideshead Revisited.
One of my favourite places to visit is Port Isaac – Doc Martin fans will know it as sleepy Portwenn. If you are looking for somewhere to entertain the grandchildren, then where better than Alnwick Castle which was the setting for Hogwarts in Harry Potter.
But don’t just take our word for it – get out there and explore what our wonderful country has to offer – tell us what your favourite destinations are.
By Andrew Silk
