Cruising the British Isles or Northern Europe is a good choice for 2017.
A Northern Europe cruise might be a good bet this year and, thanks to Brexit, it’s also been one heck of a deal so far. Visit Britain unveiled numbers that paint a positive tourism trend for the country. It comes at the same time the nation continues to deal with upcoming and subsequent repercussions from Brexit.
According to Visit Britain’s report, the United Kingdom had a nice 2016 with 36.7 million visits, which represents an increase of 1.5 percent over the previous year. Tourism spend was also up, 1.1 percent, to £22.3 billion.
A stellar end to the year—flight bookings were up in November and December—seems to portend a dramatic increase for 2017. Visit London sees the country enjoying a four percent uptick in visits, (about 38.1 million). It also forecasts spending to surpass £24 billion with an increase of 8.1 percent.
Excellent cruise itineraries from Dover and Southampton give travelers a chance to combine a cruise of Northern Europe with a visit to the UK.
The pound’s slide was an obvious allure for tourists. However, Visit Britain cautions against assuming 2017 continues its meteoric rise because the fluctuating currency is just that.
The forecast explains: “As with visit numbers, the impact of the fall in the pound – which has improved inbound visitors’ spending power – on the value of visitor spending is so far inconclusive. The ongoing value of the pound itself is a key uncertainty and will depend on several factors. These include the status of EU and trade negotiations throughout the year as well as monetary policy actions taken by the Bank of England and other major central banks abroad.”
It’s not a foregone conclusion that the pound will offer a remarkable deal for tourists after the country moves past Article 50’s watershed moment. However, MarketWatch.com puts the pound at $1.2411, which is down .5 percent on the week but up the same amount for the year.
(Travel Pulse)
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