David Edwards

A reminder if you enjoy tourism related stats, trend charts and insights you can now find Scattered Clouds on Bluesky, and that no future content will be added to what we once called Twitter.

Almost half of all inbound visitors in Britain for a holiday visit a castle or stately home during their trip, but this is a popular pastime for VFR visitors too, with 24% finding time for the activity.

In 2019 VisitBritain quizzed potential international visitors about activities they would most like to do were they to visit. One such activity was spending a night in a fairy-tale castle, with those from Japan and South Korea the keenest, while Germans were more ambivalent.

A reminder that a fresh breeze is blowing the regular stats and insights content from Scattered Clouds to a new home @tourismstats on Bluesky from the start of next year, with content no longer shared here once we reach the end of this month.

In the 12 months to November this year the number of Americans boarding a flight in the USA that was bound for the UK was 6% up on the year before at more than 5.4 million (although some may simply have been in transit in the UK, and not crossed the border).

The Tilbury Fort visitors see today has stood on the Thames Estuary since 1685. Construction is said to have taken nearly 15 years, apparently bedevilled not just building on marshland but also unreliable contractors... english-heritage.org.uk/visi…

St Mawes Castle is one of two Tudor coastal fortresses built to protect Falmouth from invasion, the other being Pendennis, that today welcome some of Cornwall's many visitors. english-heritage.org.uk/visi…

Latest labour market stats from ONS indicate that in the three months to November this year the level of vacancies in sectors closely aligned to tourism were akin to their pre-pandemic levels five years earlier.

Latest CAA stats allow us to take a look at the 20 busiest international air routes to/from the UK in October in terms of passenger numbers. All bar two feature Heathrow, and 11 are to/from long-haul destinations.

We return to the Yorkshire Dales today to take a look at trends in the number of visits to Richmond Castle, a painting of which by Turner hangs in Tate Britain. english-heritage.org.uk/visi…

Hard-pressed tourism and hospitality businesses try to encourage their customers to travel sustainably, so it's dispiriting when every weekend rail companies implore people to either stay at home or travel by car.

Here's a chart we've not looked at for a while, showing real* food price indices based on data from the UN's Food & Agriculture Organisation. Prices for both dairy and vegetable oils have seen an upward trend in recent months. *as in inflation-adjusted, not as opposed to pretend!

Interesting that PwC say UK hotels may benefit from higher inbound tourism next year on the back of a weakening of sterling. At odds with this some analysts actually anticipate the pound will strengthen against the euro next year. pwc.co.uk/industries/hospita…

Apparently Prudhoe Castle was the only Northumberland castle to resist the Scots, but I'm sure today visitors from north of the border are made welcome. english-heritage.org.uk/visi…

According to GfK UK consumer confidence has edged up slightly this month, although remains lower than had been the case back in the summer.

Dating back to 1176 Peveril Castle is one of England's earliest Norman fortresses, with the ruins offering panoramic views of Derbyshire's Peak District. english-heritage.org.uk/visi…

DfT stats indicate that the number of passengers on international short sea crossings to/from the UK in October was 2.2% down on the year before. On a rolling 12-month basis the tally remains 17% shy of that seen in the 12 months to October 2019 (so pre-pandemic).

For one of the best views of Orford Ness it is recommended to climb to the top of Orford Castle in Suffolk, which attracts around 30,000 visitors each year. english-heritage.org.uk/visi…

With Heathrow reporting a record November for passenger traffic here's a look at passenger volumes by route segment in the most recent 12 months versus its pre-pandemic high-water mark.

IATA is forecasting that globally there will be some 40 million flights in 2025, with passenger numbers up 6.7% on 2024 to 5.2 billion. iata.org/en/pressroom/2024-r…