A view of the stunning bridge and picturesque scenery at Tintagel Castle in Cornwall, UK.Domestic travel is becoming an increasingly important commercial opportunity for hotels, destinations, operators, and tourism brands as UK travellers prioritise value, flexibility, and convenience. The UK staycation is no longer just a fallback for travellers skipping overseas holidays. It is now evolving into a more strategic and durable segment of the travel market, presenting clear opportunities for the wider travel trade.
For suppliers across hospitality, transport, attractions, and destination marketing, the shift is commercially significant. Domestic travel demand is holding up even as households remain under financial pressure, reflecting a broader change in how British consumers are approaching leisure travel.
VisitBritain’s latest Domestic Sentiment Tracker, released on 19 March 2026, found that 75% of UK adults intended to take a domestic overnight trip over the next 12 months. While that was slightly down from 78% in February 2026 and 80% in March 2025, it still shows that domestic leisure travel remains firmly in the mainstream. Just as importantly, 62% said they had taken a UK overnight short break or holiday in the previous 12 months, unchanged year on year.
For the travel trade, this points to a market that remains resilient rather than temporary. Staycations are no longer being driven solely by short-term caution or shifting sentiment, but by more structural consumer preferences around ease, affordability, and flexibility.
Value remains central
The commercial logic behind the trend is straightforward. Domestic trips often allow travellers to manage costs more effectively through lower transport spend, shorter trip durations, and simpler planning. In a market where consumers are increasingly scrutinising total holiday cost, that matters.
ABTA’s Holiday Habits 2025-26 report shows that despite ongoing financial pressure, holidays remain a priority purchase for UK consumers, with value for money still at the centre of decision-making. For travel businesses, this reinforces the competitiveness of domestic travel against both long-haul and some short-haul international options.
This value-driven mindset also appears in consumer and trade research. Travelodge’s 2025 Travel Trends study found that one-third of British adults were opting to holiday in Britain to maximise their budget, while half said a staycation would be their preferred holiday choice because of the variety of destinations available across the UK. More than two-fifths also said domestic trips felt more cost-effective and less stressful than travelling abroad.
For suppliers, the message is clear: the staycation proposition is no longer just about location. It is increasingly about price confidence, convenience, and reduced travel friction.
Young man in jeans and red jacket takes photos of Weymouth and coastline from a viewing platform on the Isle of Portland, Dorset, UK
Discovery is supporting demand
Recent reporting also suggests that domestic travel is outperforming overseas intent in some segments. 52% of Britons planned a UK staycation in 2025, compared with 46% intending to take a holiday abroad, citing research from Away Resorts.
The same study found that 76% of respondents believed there were still many places in the UK they had not yet visited, while 28% said they wanted to take more holidays within the country. Demand is not being supported by cost considerations alone, it is also being shaped by a continuing appetite for domestic discovery.
That creates room for destinations and operators to reposition regional products more creatively, especially in locations that may still feel fresh or underexplored to domestic travellers.
Product demand is broadening
The nature of the staycation is also changing. VisitBritain data shows that in England in 2024, large towns and cities increased their share of domestic overnight trips to 46%, up from 44% in 2022 and 45% in 2023. The same source also showed booking lead times shortening year on year, suggesting more spontaneous and shorter-window booking behaviour.
In Q2 2025, VisitBritain again reported that large towns and cities increased their share of overnight trips, while shorter overnight breaks accounted for a larger share than in previous years. For the trade, this highlights a more fragmented but commercially attractive market, where urban breaks, event-led trips, and short-duration escapes are becoming increasingly important.
Staycations remained a strong contender for holiday bookings in 2025, with city breaks emerging as a major category alongside more traditional rural and coastal escapes. It also pointed to strong interest in caravan holidays, with affordability and eco-conscious appeal helping drive demand.
The implication for B2B readers is clear: the staycation market is no longer confined to cottages and seaside towns. It now spans cities, caravan parks, self-catering stays, rail-led itineraries, glamping, and other flexible leisure formats suited to different traveller budgets and preferences.
Scenic row boat and boat houses at Hickling Broad, in the Norfolk Broads, UK
Resilient, but more selective
That said, strong consumer interest does not mean uniform growth across every metric. VisitBritain’s 2025 domestic tourism releases showed softer year-on-year volumes and spending in some periods. In Q2 2025, residents took 18.5 million overnight trips in England, down 18% year on year, while domestic tourism spend fell 8% to £16.6 billion. In May 2025, overnight trip volume in England dropped 13% year on year, although tourism day visits edged up 1%.
VisitBritain linked part of this softness to cost-of-living pressures and weaker consumer confidence. For the travel trade, that does not weaken the staycation story so much as refine it. The UK market is not seeing simple volume growth across all domestic travel formats. Instead, it is seeing more selective demand, with consumers still taking breaks but adjusting how they travel. Many are shortening trip length, booking closer to departure, and choosing options that offer stronger perceived value and lower planning risk.
This is also consistent with VisitBritain’s 2026 findings, which identified rising living costs and UK weather as the leading barriers to domestic overnight travel.
Opportunity for the trade
For travel businesses, the opportunity remains substantial, but success will depend on execution. Winning in the staycation market now requires stronger positioning around convenience, value, price transparency, and experience-led differentiation.
Destination marketers have an opportunity to lean into discovery, particularly in areas consumers may not yet have explored. Hotels and accommodation providers should adapt to shorter lead times and shorter stays. Operators should focus on products that reduce planning friction while still delivering novelty, flexibility, and a genuine sense of escape.
The UK staycation is no longer just a consumer trend. For the travel trade, it is becoming a more strategic and commercially relevant segment, driven by the way travellers are redefining value, convenience, and flexibility in today’s market.
