07/08/2009 - Number of business trips falls
Fewer business trips were taken in the UK this year with local tourism bearing the brunt of falling visitor numbers.
The number of UK executives taking trips in the first four months of this year dropped 13% to 5.5 million, according to figures from VisitEngland.
UK residents took 12.7 million trips to meet friends and relatives in their own country - 7% fewer than in January-April 2008.
There was, however, an increase in the number of holiday trips of more than one night taken in the UK as holidaymakers looking to beat the credit crunch contributed to a 15% rise to 13.4 million during the period.
In total, UK residents took 32.5 million trips - a 1% fall on the figures from January-April 2008.
A 4% rise to £2.57 billion spent on UK holiday trips during January-April 2009 was more than wiped out by a fall of 12% in business trip spending and an 11% decrease on spending by residents visiting friends and family.
The figures mean that there was an overall reduction of 5% in total spending to £5.3 billion.
Copyright © Press Association 2009
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