New figures released by VisitEngland from the UK Tourism Survey show that trips taken within England for the month of July were up by 24 percent compared with July 2008. Visitor spend increased by 16 per cent over the same period.

Trips and expenditure across the whole of the UK were up by 20 per cent and 13 per cent respectively. The number of holiday trips taken by UK residents to England rose by 40 per cent, equating to nearly two million more holiday trips and 7.2 million extra nights holiday taken, with the UK-wide results showing trips taken by Brits in the whole of the UK up by 32 percent, amounting to 2.1 million more leisure holiday trips, both compared with July 2008.

VisitEngland says the figures highlight the excellent performance of English holidays over the first seven months of this year and during the first month of the summer holidays, with the number of holiday trips to England up by 20 per cent compared with January to July in 2008. In the year since January, the number of overall trips taken (including visiting friends and family and business travel, as well as holidays) in the UK rose by 4 per cent, while the number of overall trips taken in England rose by 5 per cent. The total amount spent on all overnight travel since January has seen an increase by 1per cent throughout the UK, with overall spend in England rising by 2 per cent. Overall growth has not been as strong as holiday growth alone however, as business travel remains a sector that continues to suffer as businesses cut costs in the current economic climate.

In spite of the wettest July since 1914, UK residents have apparently shunned outbound travel, which has dropped by 17 per cent for the year to the end of July. The figures also indicate that forward bookings for England holidays in 2010 and 2011 are up across many sectors of the travel industry.