Knowledge Centre
21st August 2009
Traditional seaside resorts are being hammered by above-average levels of unemployment despite a growing appetite for UK residents to holiday in this country, according to the TUC.
The organisation's analysis of unemployment figures found that the number of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance in Bournemouth had risen by 130% since July last year, compared to the national average increase of 81%.
And many other resorts have shown similar trends, with the figures increasing in Weston-super-Mare by 122%, and by 113% in the Weymouth area.
Other traditional holiday destinations that have seen increases far above the national average include the Isle of Wight (111%), the Minehead area (110%), Littlehampton and Bognor (103%) and the Newquay area (98%).
This comes against the backdrop of UK residents stung by the recession increasingly opting to shun foreign holidays and remain at home for 'staycations', the TUC says.
Office for National Statistics figures released last week show that visits abroad by UK residents had fallen by 10% in the 12 months leading up to June, compared to the same month in 2008.
During the same period, however, the number of overseas visitors to the UK decreased by 8% - a drop of 2.6 million.
And while figures released earlier this month by VisitEngland showed that UK residents took 5 million extra nights' holiday over the first four months of 2009 versus the same time in 2008, chief executive James Berresford admitted only time would tell if the trend continued through the summer.
TUC general secretary Brendan Barber warned that unemployment had reached "crisis level" at many of the "best-loved" traditional destinations.
"Many seaside towns have made impressive and imaginative efforts to regenerate themselves - and deserve real praise - but even the most ambitious scheme cannot buck the effects of such a deep recession," he added.
IMAGE Gareth Fuller/PA Wire
"Crisis level" unemployment in UK resorts, says TUC
The organisation's analysis of unemployment figures found that the number of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance in Bournemouth had risen by 130% since July last year, compared to the national average increase of 81%.
And many other resorts have shown similar trends, with the figures increasing in Weston-super-Mare by 122%, and by 113% in the Weymouth area.
Other traditional holiday destinations that have seen increases far above the national average include the Isle of Wight (111%), the Minehead area (110%), Littlehampton and Bognor (103%) and the Newquay area (98%).
This comes against the backdrop of UK residents stung by the recession increasingly opting to shun foreign holidays and remain at home for 'staycations', the TUC says.
Office for National Statistics figures released last week show that visits abroad by UK residents had fallen by 10% in the 12 months leading up to June, compared to the same month in 2008.
During the same period, however, the number of overseas visitors to the UK decreased by 8% - a drop of 2.6 million.
And while figures released earlier this month by VisitEngland showed that UK residents took 5 million extra nights' holiday over the first four months of 2009 versus the same time in 2008, chief executive James Berresford admitted only time would tell if the trend continued through the summer.
TUC general secretary Brendan Barber warned that unemployment had reached "crisis level" at many of the "best-loved" traditional destinations.
"Many seaside towns have made impressive and imaginative efforts to regenerate themselves - and deserve real praise - but even the most ambitious scheme cannot buck the effects of such a deep recession," he added.
IMAGE Gareth Fuller/PA Wire
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