THE amount of money spent by those visiting short-term holiday lets in the South West reached a record £7.3 billion last year, according to a new economic report.

Amid the pandemic and continued overseas travel restrictions, tourists spent a total of almost 31.7 million (31,679,000) nights in short-term accommodation across the region in 2021 – up from 24.5 million in 2020. The vast majority (90 per cent) of these nights were in holiday homes within rural areas.

As a result, the short-stay tourism industry injected more than £6.2 billion into the South West’s economies last year alone, including via spending with local companies, job creation and tax revenues.

The analysis, conducted by Oxford Economics on behalf of Sykes Holiday Cottages and The Short Term Accommodation Association (STAA), was undertaken to reveal the economic impact of short-term holiday lets across the UK over the last few years.

Holidays to Sykes’ holiday lets throughout the South West were up 17 per cent last year compared with 2019 and are 51 per cent higher to date this year versus 2019.

Meanwhile, bookings to Somerset increased by 16 per cent last year vs. pre-pandemic and are 47 per cent up in 2022. This year, Watchet, Minehead, Wells, and Taunton are proving to be the county’s most popular travel spots.

In total, the short-term let industry contributed £27.7 billion to UK GDP in 2021.

Graham Donoghue, chief executive of Sykes Holiday Cottages, said: “The industry supports local jobs and pours in billions of pounds of guest spend annually, with visitors opting to eat at local independent pubs and restaurants, explore little-known tourist attractions, and spend their money on holiday souvenirs.

“With the popularity of staycations not expected to subside anytime soon, there’s every reason to believe that the positive economic impact of short-term lets within Somerset will remain equally strong in the years to come.”

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