Britain’s staycation boom may be over as bookings dry up
https://www.theguardian.com/money/2024/apr/07/britains-staycation-boom-may-be-over-as-bookings-dry-up
by InternetProviderings
Britain’s staycation boom may be over as bookings dry up
https://www.theguardian.com/money/2024/apr/07/britains-staycation-boom-may-be-over-as-bookings-dry-up
by InternetProviderings
40 comments
That poor woman in Cornwall who can’t let out her 3 BTL’s. 🙄
Yeah we know that is already. Firstly the market is saturated and secondly it’s cheaper to get on a plane and get an AirBnB abroad than it is to hire a car or buy a train ticket and get an AirBnB here.
For the price of a car rental and shed in Devon for 4 days I’m doing a week in Sicily.
Well, when it’s cheaper to fly to an all-inclusive 7 nights holiday on the ocean beach than it is to rent a self-catering tiny cottage in wales for 2 nights… yeah, I believe the balloon will pop!
Because the weather has not and COVID is a memory for most
> Yvonne Turnbull, 58, who lives in Horsham, West Sussex, has been letting out a three-bedroom apartment in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, for between £150 and £175 a night, including through Airbnb, for the past six years.
Yeah, wonder why?
That’s interesting because London over Wimbledon and Edinburgh over Edinburgh Fringe Festival don’t appear super cheap this year. Possibly it’s no one wants to spend top money to go to Scarborough over winter lol and the fact we have 5 X more Airbnbs vs covid when you couldn’t go overseas and were effectively trapped
Staycation ≠ regular holiday in your country of residence
I’ve lived in the UK for 16 years, let’s be honest UK is a poor holiday destination, especially for Brits. Expensive, weather sucks, public transport is atrocious etc. I have moved to Spain due to Brexit and honestly I can’t even imagine myself going back for a holiday
Ye it’s to expensive.
Unless there is a rare offer on.
I did some.glamping in Wales with family. Portmadog I think it was called. We were only able to as one we have a car and two my mum has a friend down the road who’s family inheritanced a place from a dying family member. Have to say it was a blast from the past as it was 80/90s decor, felt like i was 6 again.
Sadly they had to sell it as the land rent was just to much to keep it also it was very old so they just decided to cut the loss.
Most of the holidays we have been on have been lucky catches as we have been in the know about something or seen a super good offer.
Best offer I myself have had solo travel wise was Edinburgh 4nights for 390 including food, ticket was 90 thou.
[£1158 for this one bed cottage in the Lake District 15th-21st July for two adults](https://abnb.me/mf92hG00AIb)
Or Stansted to Milan flights 15th July, 07:40 landing 10:35 return 21st July 21:45 landing22:50
£133 pp do £266 plus the extra for a large suitcase is £316
Return train from Milan to Como £40 for two people
[Air BnB overlooking Lake Como £542](https://abnb.me/d1i3aYQ1AIb)
Everything is so weirdly overpriced here in the UK, that you can easily fly aboard for the same type of holiday and end up paying a lot less
That isn’t even looking at the cheap package holidays
UK trips on Airbnb are usually £150 a night and half of the time it is basically staying in someone’s house, very similar to your own
No thanks. Rather hop on a Ryanair flight at £100pp returns max, and get an Airbnb somewhere in Europe often for £60-£100. In a sunny place or somewhere with nicer food and culture.
Won’t catch me crying that people can’t let their BTLs in a saturated property market
Picture of St Ives in the header, I’ve been there tons. Last time a couple years ago in the middle of August the flat was around £950 for the week, I looked for this year and the same flat, same week is over £1500 so Jet2 have got my money sadly.
I’m not okay paying that for room only in this country. I know there’s the St Ives tax but still.
Nope – I checked my favourite holiday cabin in Cornwall and it’s still 2x the pre-Covid price I paid.
I will leave it late to book and snap up some last minute bargain this year.
Surprising no one but the owners themselves I guess.
Because greedy businesses are charging more than it costs to fly thousands of miles away for a weekend in Blackpool.
We’ve done several over the years – Pembrokeshire several times, Lake District, Norfolk Broads twice, Cornwall, Brighton, Suffolk, West Sussex, Isle of Wight twice.
Prices now tho…
Hotels are often cheaper (for a couple anyway) with no tedious restrictions or cleaning and other charges.
And didn’t ‘staycation’ originally mean staying at home? Going somewhere else is a ‘holiday’ or ‘vacation’.
I feel like things are reaching a tipping point in the UK.
This being one example, surely it just means prices will level out to make it affordable to do once again? Or folks will have to sell off their multiple BTL holiday homes which is also not a bad thing.
Too expensive and too wet. After last summer I can’t blame people for going abroad.
Looking at the weather, that’s the only thing that has dried up..
A staycation wouldn’t involve accommodation booking. That’s a holiday.
Well things are gonna change then. Properties will be sold and so will businesses.
I’m going on holiday to Jamaica because it’s cheaper than going to the place we normally go to in Cornwall now…
> lives in Horsham, West Sussex, has been letting out a three-bedroom apartment in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, for between £150 and £175 a night, including through Airbnb, for the past six years
Maybe rent the place out cheaper? Isn’t 175 really expensive even to British standards?
never understood the appeal (unless you’re not willing to travel far), 50/50 weather being miserable and not much to do?
Well yes. When you can go to Rome next to the colosseum for the same length of time for less than a 1/4 of the price of course it’s going to happen. We had 3 days in Rome able to walk out the front door and see the colosseum for €126. Including flights. Then we spent about £200 I think so there’s not a chance I’m going Cornwall or Devon or Pembrokeshire for the money they’re trying to charge to just stay there and then either drive or get an expensive train.
How is a flight cheaper than an Uber across a city
I loved the UK as a holiday destination, the nature is fantastic, just thinking of all the long distance paths makes me want to pack my walking boots and go there.
But I won’t. By now holidays in the UK, especially with kids, are so expensive, it’s unbelievable. But that is not the worst part, as I’m in the very privileged position not to have to book the cheapest place available. The worst part is that the standard of accommodation is just really sub-par in most cases. And it’s not just B&Bs but also hotels.
I’ve been going on UK holidays since the 80s, but then and in the 90s the prices were affordable and in relation to what you got. Although hotels were always too pricey for what they offer. But now paying £150 per room/night at an airBnB? That’s just ridiculous.
Celebrating Christmas with my UK family is only halfway affordable because they have a Premium Inn where they live. Their family bedrooms were good value when the kids were young. Now we need two rooms, but it’s still the cheapest option.
Everyone is trying to money grub as much as they can.
I’m going to see a concert in Wembley in June and with what I’m expecting the train to cost, the concert ticket and hotel for the night I could get a week in Spain. I could probably holiday for a month if I wanted to stay in London for the week.. it’s ridiculous.
These days it’s like: “get me off these godforsaken shores!”
Spending £400/night for a crappy cottage by a windswept pebble beach versus spending £400 on flights, accommodation, and means for a weekend break in Portugal?
A “Staycation” is when you take holiday and don’t leave your house (i.e. stay home). This article is about domestic tourism and domestic holidays.
Britain’s holiday industry needs to cut prices. Then the cost of a week here is less than a week in Croatia, I’ll holiday here
I find they can still be done pretty cost effectively.
Renting a large place and splitting the cost between a fair number of adults means you can get some really nice places at quite a cheap price per person.
Going during term time means you can get some pretty good bargains. Yes, the buggers will flat out double the cost during the school holidays, so if you’ve got kids or you’re a teacher, then you’re basically stuffed.
Not surprised, not only are the prices ridiculous but the summer weather these past few years has been abysmal, 1 week of unbearable heat followed by back to back named storms.
Our staycations in a camper van can cost us £500. In a van.
Decent camping sites now charge £50-70 a night. No fancy extras, not in hugely popular areas. Just for a pitch with some electricity.
Not to mention restaurants, alcohol and activities are just insanely expensive here. And you can’t rely on weather either. Oh, and of course most of the holiday spots in the U.K. in the south become super overcrowded and busy because we have a pretty big population.
Meanwhile, I can grab a fairly cheap fight to Sicily for a week, with a high end hotel, amazing food and guaranteed sun – plus the novelty of another landscape and culture. For not much more money.
The UK hospitality industry needs to become more competitive if it wants to thrive.
I haven’t seen this mentioned in the article or the comments but UK hotel chains have really responded well to the threat from Airbnb and now – as someone who travels around for work and does a few breaks in the UK – going for something like a Premier Inn, Travelodge, or any of the smaller boutique budget chains dotted around various places feels more reliable and regularly much cheaper than an Airbnb in the same place.
Not to mention there’s no potential hassle with check in/check out, cleaning it, wifi/electric/water problems, unreliable photos, etc. There’s fewer of these hotels in places like Cornwall or Devon but certainly for city breaks I’m not sure I’d go back to holiday lets now.
Yes because two weeks in Devon will cost you more than 2 weeks in Cyprus, it’s a no brainer
Holidaying in England where the price is outrageous and the weather is terrible. Boy I can’t see why it’s having a hard time surviving
No shit, hiring a caravan in a nice location (weather still shit tho in most cases and sea mixed with sewage) cost more than going abroad and have bang on weather and great tasting food.
Probably because money’s tight and 9/10 you get more bang for your buck having a long weekend abroad.
Isn’t a staycation where you have time off and stay at home / do tourist / holiday stuff where you are?