Where are people going?

Looking at the geographical distribution in our site usage data shows post-pandemic trends that are largely predictable. Guests are starting to return to Europe in numbers similar to a few years ago, with a slight softening of the UK staycation boom, but within the rough return to normality, there is some interesting variation.

Europe’s comeback complete

European travel reopened somewhat hesitantly, with mixed messages and confusion over Covid rules, as well as Brexit’s impact on red tape, meaning UK audiences were slow to return. Now, however, it is certainly picking up speed. Our collections of French pet-friendly cottages, French coastal cottages and French gîtes with pools have seen increases in views of 43%, 30% and 61% respectively, with the latter now our fourth most popular of all collections. What’s even more interesting is that these increases are when comparing against the previous year, but where you might expect those rates to suffer against pre-pandemic, comparisons with 2019 are also favourable, in some cases far more so, with rises of 20%, 180% and 129%.

This all points not only to European travel having finally thrown off the pandemic’s depressive effect, but perhaps a renewed determination in people to visit those further flung places they’ve had on their list for a long time.

A more even spread in Britain

Far from showing Britain as being deserted by guests off on their European adventures, there is still a strong domestic market. Within that, however, a shift away from wilder, mainly coastal locations indicates a desire from many people to go back to cities, which had been slowest to recover normal levels of tourism. London and Edinburgh have both seen significant increases in interest, while Cornwall, Devon and Dorset have all fallen slightly against last year, although still retain high levels of interest. Paris’ popularity attests to the urban trend being a mindset outside the UK as well.

Self-catering vs other place types

Despite the trend for more urban stays, which would normally indicate a shift towards hotels, self-catering remains the strongest performing place type on our site. Even with our rigorous selection process, the self-catering section of the collection in every country has grown year-on-year and conversion has risen by 0.28%, which sounds small but represents a decent uplift. It’s clear that even with guests being more evenly distributed across Europe and showing renewed interest in city breaks, the self-catering market has nothing to fear in terms of its position as the mainstay of holidays both in the UK and abroad.

Overtourism – crisis or opportunity?

Overtourism continues to be an issue in many areas of the UK, with hot spots like Cornwall and the Lake District the most severely affected. It might seem an insoluble problem, but with guests becoming more aware of the impact of their travel, it can present an opportunity. Owners who encourage off-season travel or offer a more in-depth experience to guests, one which involves them in the local community, can help to offset the negatives of tourism and educate more people in travelling responsibly. Our sister company Canopy & Stars has also seen traditionally less popular regions such as Herefordshire and Norfolk flourish as guests become keen to avoid the crowds and travel more responsibly.

At Sawday’s, we recognised the part we played in overtourism and took action in 2022, capping the number of properties we take on in key areas of the UK. There is much more work to be done on understanding and combatting this complicated issue, but we’re confident not only that old favourite destinations can stay on our wish lists, but that new ones will rise to share the load.