Surge in far east visitors drives growth for UK hotels in 2018

UK hotels saw positive growth throughout 2018 as a result of a surge in international visitors, particularly from the Far East, according to the latest data from Expedia.

The group found that global interest in ‘destination UK’ has remained strong, with major cities and regions across the UK experiencing “significant” double-digit growth.

In part, this growth has been driven by visitors from the far east, with demand from Chinese travellers to the UK rising by almost 160% year-on-year last year. The increase was further supported by a rise in demand from visitors from Japan (+30% year-on-year), Malaysia (+45% year-on-year), Korea (+20% year-on-year) and Thailand (more than +30% year-on-year).

Demand also remained buoyant from the traditionally strong visitor markets of Germany, Canada, Australia and France, and was further fuelled by visitors from several fast-growing markets such as Italy, Ireland and Spain, all of which registered  double-digit increases.

The top UK cities by travel demand in 2018 were:

1. London
2. Edinburgh
3. Manchester
4. Birmingham
5. Glasgow
6. Liverpool
7. Cardiff
8. Newcastle
9. Bristol
10. Leeds

Irene Roberts, director of market management at Expedia Group said: “Last year was clearly a year of growth, with greater numbers of travellers choosing to visit the UK and experience more diverse locations. Our data suggests that we continue to work successfully with our lodging partners to provide access to valuable international customers.

“The significant rise in demand from valuable Far East visitors is great news for hoteliers – lengthier booking windows and increased on-property spend enable them to focus their time on maximising bookings during shoulder periods. Our proposition of providing hotel partners with a global reach through continued investment in technology and marketing is helping capture those visitors and drive conversions.”