London and Domestic

London

London has a population of 8.5 million, representing 16% of the total population.

Value to Domestic Tourism in England

In 2014, there were 11.4 million domestic overnight trips to London, 12% of the total of all trips to England. £2.9 billion was spent on these trips, 16% of the England total. There were 274 million day trips to London, which represents a higher proportion of all England trips than overnight – one in five day trips (and almost a quarter of spend (24%) on day trips) in England is to London.

London trips Total England London trips (as % of total) Domestic Overnight Trips

Trips (millions) 92.61 11.38 12% Spend (£ millions) 18,085 2,889 16% Day Visits

Trips (millions) 1,345 274 20% Spend (£ millions) 45,101 10,732 24%

Trip Type

Overnight Travel

Compared to the national profile, a lower proportion of trips to London are for holidays (28% compared to 44%) and a higher proportion for business (29% vs. 15%). 2 in five trips (40%) are to visit friends and relatives, a similar proportion as for England as a whole.

% of trips taken % of London Total England London trips by all trip takers trips taken All Overnight Trips (millions) 92.61 100% 11.38 100% All Holidays 40.74 44% 3.24 28% 1-3 night holidays 26.47 29% 2.70 24% 4+ night holidays 14.27 15% 0.55 5% Visiting Friends and Relatives 35.91 39% 4.56 40% Business Travel 13.55 15% 3.29 29%

Day Trips

Day trips in London are less likely to be for a general day out than elsewhere in the country, but going on a night out or going out for entertainment is more popular in London than nationwide. Slightly fewer day trips in London are for visiting friends and relatives (21%) than across England as a whole (23%).

% of trips taken % of London Total England London trips by all trip takers trips taken All Day Trips, millions 1,345 100% 274 100% (selected activities) Visiting friends or family 313 23% 57 21% Going out for a meal 131 10% 30 11% Going on a night out 113 8% 29 10% General day out 100 7% 15 6% Going out for entertainment 95 7% 25 9%

Holidays in London

Although holidays in London are shorter in duration than holidays to England overall, spending per night is around double the norm, resulting in a significantly higher spend per trip of £333.

Domestic Holidays Total England London trips Average spend per trip £247 £333 Average spend per night £73 £148 Average trip length (nights) 3.37 2.25

Three-quarters (77%) of those visiting London stay in serviced accommodation, with only a small number using self-catering accommodation (3%). Public transport is the main form of transport for 3 in five visitors to London (62%) and a car for less than two in five (37%) – a significant difference to holidays across the country as a whole, where cars are the main form of transport (79%).

Trips to London are more likely to be booked closer to the time of the trip, with 18% booked in the week before the trip (compared to 13% overall). Trips to London are also more likely to be booked online (67% vs. 54%).

The age profile of those taking holiday trips to London is younger than for all domestic holidays, with three-quarters (74%) below the age of 55. Those taking holidays in London are also more likely to be in the more affluent social grades of AB and C1 (78% vs. 67%). Visitors to London come from across the country, with key source markets the South East (15%), Yorkshire (15%) and the North West (13%).

Arts, culture and entertainment activities are much more popular on holidays to London than for England as a whole (42% vs. 15%). Visiting visitor attractions (41%) and history and heritage activities (32%) are also particularly popular. Perhaps unsurprisingly, outdoor activities are less popular in the capital than elsewhere.

% of trips taken % of London trips by all trip takers taken Accommodation used Serviced rented 50% 77% Self-catering rented 37% 3% Camping / Caravanning 23% 1% Other self-catering rented 14% 2% Transport used Public transport 16% 62% Car 79% 37% When booked More than six months before trip 7% 3% Between 2 and 6 months before trip 26% 28% About a month before trip 12% 15% 2-3 weeks before trip 13% 16% In the week before trip 13% 18% Same day / after setting off on trip 1% 1%

% of trips taken % of London trips Cont. by all trip takers taken How booked Booked online 54% 67% On a laptop or desktop PC 40% 55% On a smartphone 3% 6% On a tablet 8% 10% Age groups 16-34 23% 29% 35-54 42% 45% 55+ 35% 26% Social grade AB 39% 45% C1 28% 33% C2 19% 11% DE 13% 11% Children in household 36% 27% Region of origin North East 6% 5% Yorks & Humberside 13% 15% 9% 8% 9% 6% London 7% 3% South East (excluding London) 15% 15% South West 11% 9% 10% 9% North West 13% 13% 3% 7% 5% 10%

% of trips taken % of London trips Cont. by all trip takers taken Activities undertaken History & heritage 23% 32% Arts, culture & entertainment 15% 42% Visitor Attractions 33% 41% Parks and Gardens 14% 10% Events, festivals and exhibitions 11% 16% Outdoor activities (including long 27% 11% walks) Outdoor activities (excluding long 14% 3% walks) Visited beach 20% 0% Special shopping 7% 12% Live sport 3% 6% Special personal event 3% 5%

Trends

On average, trips to London have declined slightly for each year since 2008, compared to a slight increase in the rest of the country.

Number of domestic holidays Total England London trips Millions 2008 39.75 3.66 2009 47.01 3.56 2010 43.54 4.02 2011 46.16 3.70 2012 45.99 4.17 2013 44.93 3.80 2014 40.74 3.24 Annual average growth 2008-2014 1% -1%

Appendix

Sub-Regional Volume and Value – Domestic Overnight Tourism - 3-year averages 2012 - 2014

London Local Authorities

Note: In the GBTS questionnaire, respondents are asked which London borough they stayed in. It is likely that many visitors to London are unfamiliar with the exact borders of the boroughs, particularly in central London, and so for a proportion of trips attributed to “” or “,” the accommodation used will in fact have been in other boroughs. The list below represents responses as provided by respondents, without any additional verification.

Total trips Total nights Total spend Holiday Holiday Holiday (thousands) (thousands) (£millions) trips nights spend (thousands) (thousands) (£millions)

England 99607 293537 18764 43883 147740 10505 City of London 2906 6044 855 1165 2426 370 Lambeth 341 809 55 83 229 21 Newham 148 340 18 28 107 4 Southwark 236 434 40 49 91 14 Westminster City of 1003 1946 369 465 920 193 Camden 557 1183 140 175 379 59 Hackney 180 414 25 37 72 8 Hammersmith and 177 385 30 32 54 10 Fulham Haringey 115 327 29 26 75 7 Islington 192 425 41 82 177 26 Kensington and 564 1210 202 250 470 112 Chelsea Lewisham 157 319 11 4 8 * Tower Hamlets 165 373 54 42 133 16 Wandsworth 493 1287 106 129 329 30 Barking and 110 304 28 30 124 6 Dagenham Bromley 349 774 27 43 83 4 Croydon 241 534 25 32 101 6 Ealing 303 680 50 46 131 13 Greenwich 270 605 57 90 177 27 Harrow 132 344 14 - - -

Cont. Total trips Total nights Total spend Holiday Holiday Holiday (thousands) (thousands) (£millions) trips nights spend (thousands) (thousands) (£millions) Havering 109 291 10 11 24 1 Hillingdon 352 710 66 86 202 19 Hounslow 327 595 65 79 148 9 Kingston upon 168 428 31 39 74 7 Thames Merton 172 563 26 40 99 8 Waltham Forest 104 208 7 14 23 2 Barnet 201 482 28 50 154 8 Bexley 131 284 14 11 22 1 Brent 197 459 30 47 82 11 Enfield 136 382 24 8 64 3 Redbridge 105 298 11 15 24 3 Richmond upon 290 720 56 76 228 22 Thames Sutton 73 182 7 9 14 1 London 11936 26447 2821 3733 8162 1168