These are the fastest (& slowest) growing destinations for post-lockdown travel

Tripadvisor data reveals where Brits are heading when the lockdown on travel lifts on 12 April

LONDON, UK, 17 March, 2021 - A holiday has felt like an impossible dream for such a long time, but thankfully the suffering is soon to end and freedom is on the horizon with staycations back on the cards from 12 April and with any luck, trips abroad following closely behind on 17 May.

Unsurprisingly, Brits are keen to get those bags packed as soon as possible, as a Tripadvisor survey reveals that one in five (21%) are planning a trip as early as spring (between now and 31 May). In fact, lockdown fever has Brits so desperate to escape that following Boris Johnson’s lockdown exit plan announcement on the 22nd February, travellers in the UK searching holidays on Tripadvisor increased by 97% month-on-month, and 107% month-on-month for UK staycations¹.

Notably, UK Millennials and Gen Z’s are more confident and eager to return to travel than any other generation:

54% are planning a trip this spring (compared to 21% total).
40% believe day-to-day life will return to normal within three months (compared to 18% total).
55% believe they will be better off financially in the next 12 months than they are today (compared to 21% total).
39% are optimistic the economy will rebound within three months and grow just as strong or stronger than before (compared to 17% total).

And while 2020 was THE year of the staycation, it looks like holidaying close to home is a trend that is set to continue, as Tripadvisor site data shows that of those who are actively planning a trip, 60% of Brits on Tripadvisor are searching for domestic destinations for travel between now and the end of May compared to 40% searching for international destinations.

But which destinations are on the up for Brits this spring?

When looking at the UK destinations which have seen the biggest year-on-year increase in searches by Brits, the Isle of Skye’s Portree comes out on top, followed by Cornwall’s Newquay and the Lake District is third and fourth favourite with Windermere and Bowness-on-Windermere respectively.

Internationally, Brits are going exotic, with Soufriere in St Lucia, Mexico’s Tulum and Dubai taking the top three spots respectively for Tripadvisor clicks from UK travellers.

The destinations traditionally popular with Brits and global travellers generally are absent from the top 10 fastest growing destinations (those with the biggest increase in searches year-on-year). Traveller favourites Barcelona, New York, Rome, Venice and Amsterdam make up the top five slowest growing international destinations for Brits this spring. This comes as almost a third (31%) of Brits surveyed say that they are less likely to take a city break than before the pandemic. UK Gen-Z travellers are not quite so put off by the idea of a city break. In fact, over a quarter (28%), said that they are now more likely to take this type of trip.

10 Fastest Growing (Domestic)	10 Fastest Growing (International)
Portree, Isle of Skye	Soufriere, St Lucia
Newquay, Cornwall	Tulum, Mexico
Windermere, Cumbria	Dubai, UAE
Bowness-on-Windermere, Cumbria	Cancun, Mexico
Torquay, Devon	Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
Penrith, Cumbria	Playa del Carmen, Mexico
Inverness, Scottish Highlands	Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt
Weymouth, Dorset	Belek, Turkey
Scarborough, North Yorkshire	Hurghada, Egypt
Eastbourne, East Sussex	Abu Dhabi, UAE

-ENDS-

NOTES TO EDITOR

1. Based on hotel clicks made on Tripadvisor on 28 February, 2021 compared with 31 January, 2021.

The data cited in this release was gathered and analysed from two key sources:

A Tripadvisor Consumer Sentiment Survey, based on data drawn from an online survey of over 2,000 consumers, in partnership with Qualtrics, conducted between February 22, 2021 through March 4, 2021 across six countries - U.S., UK, Australia, Italy, Singapore and Japan
Site behavioral data sourced from first party traffic data on the Tripadvisor platform, gathered during the week commencing 15 February,for searches made by UK travellers from 1 January 2021 through 14 February 2021 for travel between 1 March 2021 through 31 May 2021.

For further information, contact ukpressoffice@tripadvisor.com

About Tripadvisor

Tripadvisor, the world's largest travel guidance platform*, helps hundreds of millions of people each month** become better travelers, from planning to booking to taking a trip. Travelers across the globe use the Tripadvisor site and app to discover where to stay, what to do and where to eat based on guidance from those who have been there before. With more than 884 million reviews and opinions of 7.9 million businesses, travelers turn to Tripadvisor to find deals on accommodations, book experiences, reserve tables at delicious restaurants and discover great places nearby. As a travel guidance company available in 49 markets and 28 languages, Tripadvisor makes planning easy no matter the trip type.

The subsidiaries of Tripadvisor, Inc. (NASDAQ:TRIP), own and operate a portfolio of online travel brands and businesses, operating under various websites and apps, including the following websites: www.bokun.io, www.cruisecritic.com, www.flipkey.com, www.thefork.com (including www.lafourchette.com, www.eltenedor.com, www.bookatable.co.uk, and www.delinski.com), www.helloreco.com, www.holidaylettings.co.uk, www.housetrip.com, www.jetsetter.com, www.niumba.com, www.seatguru.com, www.singleplatform.com, www.vacationhomerentals.com, and www.viator.com.

* Source: SimilarWeb, unique users de-duplicated monthly, December 2020

** Source: Tripadvisor internal log file