London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Aug 22, 2025

Extra UK bank holiday could help cut £37bn tourism loss, MPs told

Extra UK bank holiday could help cut £37bn tourism loss, MPs told

VisitBritain chief says predicted slump excludes impact of Covid-19 quarantines
The government is considering adding an extra bank holiday to the UK calendar this year, potentially around the school half-term holiday in October.

The idea has been proposed by the official tourist agency VisitBritain to help extend the season and make up for lost earnings from two bank holiday weekends in May caused by the coronavirus shutdown.

Patricia Yates, the acting chief executive of VisitBritain, told MPs on the Commons digital, culture, media and sport committee that the tourism sector expected to lose £37bn from the impact of Covid-19.

Downing Street said the government was “supporting the tourism industry during this challenging time”, and would respond to VisitBritain’s proposal in due course.

A spokesman added: “It is worth acknowledging that an extra bank holiday comes with economic costs.”

VisitBritain believes there will be a £15bn drop in income from visitors coming to Britain from overseas, combined with £22bn from lost domestic tourism.

At the start of the year, before the pandemic struck Europe, VisitBritain had estimated the British tourism business would generate income of £107bn in 2020.

Yates told MPs: “Every time we do the modelling, the figures get worse.”

The predicted slump in income for the UK’s tourist sector does not include the impact of a possible 14-day quarantine for all visitors coming to Britain.

The tourist organisation welcomed the extension of the government furlough scheme to support businesses which often depend on the summer season for most of their annual income.

Yates told the committee that businesses in the tourism sector usually begin trading around Easter, and would therefore need to extend their season beyond September to try to recoup some of the lost trade.

“Because the industry has lost the benefit of the two May bank holidays, I think that’s an idea that is being considered, to have an October bank holiday around half-term, because what we are going to need to do is generate people not just in July and August,” she said.

Foreign travel restrictions are expected to remain in place for some time, and the British tourism sector hopes income from domestic visitors will partially offset money that would have been spent by foreign tourists, but Yates cautioned that Britons were reluctant to travel within the UK.

“Given that it has to be the year of domestic tourism, there’s a real job to be done there in convincing people that it is socially responsible to travel and enjoy a holiday, and that it is safe to do so,” Yates said.

Samantha Richardson, the director of the National Coastal Tourism Academy, told MPs that the majority of residents in Britain’s coastal communities wanted to see tourism return, but that seaside car parks and toilets had not yet been reopened by local authorities, as physical distancing measures would need to be introduced.

VisitBritain is calling on the government for more funding to market Britain to foreign tourists to help lessen the impact of the coronavirus crisis.

“Australia spends more [on tourism marketing] in China than we do internationally, so we are hugely outspent,” said Yates, adding that the official tourist agency in Ireland had asked for its marketing budget to be doubled.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
After 200,000 Orders in 2 Minutes: Xiaomi Accelerates Marketing in Europe
Ukraine Declares De Facto War on Hungary and Slovakia with Terror Drone Strikes on Their Gas Lifeline
Animated K-pop Musical ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Becomes Netflix’s Most-Watched Original Animated Film
New York Appeals Court Voids Nearly $500 Million Civil Fraud Penalty Against Trump While Upholding Fraud Liability
Elon Musk tweeted, “Europe is dying”
Far-Right Activist Convicted of Incitement Changes Gender and Demands: "Send Me to a Women’s Prison" | The Storm in Germany
Hungary Criticizes Ukraine: "Violating Our Sovereignty"
Will this be the first country to return to negative interest rates?
Child-free hotels spark controversy
North Korea is where this 95-year-old wants to die. South Korea won’t let him go. Is this our ally or a human rights enemy?
Hong Kong Launches Regulatory Regime and Trials for HKD-Backed Stablecoins
China rehearses September 3 Victory Day parade as imagery points to ‘loyal wingman’ FH-97 family presence
Trump Called Viktor Orbán: "Why Are You Using the Veto"
Horror in the Skies: Plane Engine Exploded, Passengers Sent Farewell Messages
MSNBC Rebrands as MS NOW Amid Comcast’s Cable Spin-Off
AI in Policing: Draft One Helps Speed Up Reports but Raises Legal and Ethical Concerns
Shame in Norway: Crown Princess’s Son Accused of Four Rapes
Apple Begins Simultaneous iPhone 17 Production in India and China
A Robot to Give Birth: The Chinese Announcement That Shakes the World
Finnish MP Dies by Suicide in Parliament Building
Outrage in the Tennis World After Jannik Sinner’s Withdrawal Storm
William and Kate Are Moving House – and the New Neighbors Were Evicted
Class Action Lawsuit Against Volkswagen: Steering Wheel Switches Cause Accidents
Taylor Swift on the Way to the Super Bowl? All the Clues Stirring Up Fans
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Apple Expands Social Media Presence in China With RedNote Account Ahead of iPhone 17 Launch
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Cambridge Dictionary Adds 'Skibidi,' 'Delulu,' and 'Tradwife' Amid Surge of Online Slang
Bill Barr Testifies No Evidence Implicated Trump in Epstein Case; DOJ Set to Release Records
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
The CEO Who Replaced 80% of Employees for the AI Revolution: "I Would Do It Again"
Emails Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Character.ai Bets on Future of AI Companionship
China Ramps Up Tax Crackdown on Overseas Investments
Japanese Office Furniture Maker Expands into Bomb Shelter Market
Intel Shares Surge on Possible U.S. Government Investment
Hurricane Erin Threatens U.S. East Coast with Dangerous Surf
EU Blocks Trade Statement Over Digital Rule Dispute
EU Sends Record Aid as Spain Battles Wildfires
JPMorgan Plans New Canary Wharf Tower
Zelenskyy and his allies say they will press Trump on security guarantees
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Escalating Clashes in Serbia as Anti-Government Protests Spread Nationwide
The Drought in Britain and the Strange Request from the Government to Delete Old Emails
Category 5 Hurricane in the Caribbean: 'Catastrophic Storm' with Winds of 255 km/h
"No, Thanks": The Mathematical Genius Who Turned Down 1.5 Billion Dollars from Zuckerberg
The surprising hero, the ugly incident, and the criticism despite victory: "Liverpool’s defense exposed in full"
Digital Humans Move Beyond Sci-Fi: From Virtual DJs to AI Customer Agents
YouTube will start using AI to guess your age. If it’s wrong, you’ll have to prove it
×