Findings have revealed the fastest growing holiday destinations for UK residents in the last decade, with Romania storming ahead with a 638% growth in UK tourism since 2007.
On The Go Tours have analysed data from the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) 2018 Tourism Highlights Report and crunched the numbers for the last decade to decipher the fastest growing destinations for UK tourists.
Romania is the fastest growing destination for UK tourists
Romania takes the crown as the fastest growing destination for UK tourists, with an average yearly growth of 24%, and a total increase of 638% between 2007 and 2017. Romania’s UK tourism figures began to peak after 2008, with figures jumping from 48,000 visitors to 70,000 within a year and increasing rapidly to 347,000 in 2017.
Lithuania follows in second place, growing by 187% over the last decade and peaking in 2017. After a slight trough in 2009, UK tourist figures have been on the up, with an average 12% yearly increase and the latest figures at 115,000 visitors in 2017.
It may come as no surprise that both France and Spain are still standing strong as popular tourist destinations amongst Brits, with over six million British tourists flocking to France in 2017 and over ten million to Spain. Whilst they have not made it into the top twenty fastest growing destinations, both countries have only seen a slight decrease in visitors between the years of 2010 to 2013, with figures generally remaining consistently high among travellers.
The third fastest growing destination for UK tourists, increasing by 183,000 in the last decade, is Mexico with 145% overall growth and a yearly average increase of 13%.
The popularity of Mexico has peaked particularly over the last three years, which is evident from the use of a staggering 49 million hashtags on social media platform Instagram, suggesting that Brits are flocking to Mexico to capture their picture perfect holiday snaps. Abu Dhabi and Dubai’s luxurious hotels, beaches, stunning skyscrapers and fantastic shopping facilities have also caught the eye of UK tourists, conveyed by the 64% increase in UK visitors. This results in a number 6 spot for the UAE on the list of fastest growing holiday destinations and just under half a million UK tourists in 2017.
Another destination which has been popular of late and comes in at number 10 with a 38% growth in the last ten years is Morocco. On The Go Tours’ internal data has also shown a 44% increase in their booking numbers from 2017 compared to 2018, showing that Morocco’s sweeping deserts, epic mountain ranges and ancient cities are becoming a real hit with UK travellers.
Whilst Italy has always been a relatively popular destination for UK tourists, with an average flight time of two hours, this short haul destination has seen a 25% increase in the last ten years. On The Go Tours’ internal data has again seen a similar trend, showing a huge increase in the last year, with bookings to visit the beautiful country and it’s Mediterranean coastlines up by 200%.
Other European countries that have made their way into the top ten include the likes of Hungary, Poland, Portugal and Denmark, with UK tourist figures to all these destinations increasing by 50% or more.
The top 10 fastest growing destinations in the last decade can be found below:
-
- Romania – 638.30%
- Lithuania – 187.04%
- Mexico – 145.24%
- Hungary – 70.00%
- United Arab Emirates – 64.34%
- Poland – 56.79%
- Portugal – 50.04%
- Denmark – 45.39%
- Nigeria – 38.24%
- Morocco – 37.78%
