What makes the UK unique as a holiday destination?
The UK is more dependent on domestic tourism than most other countries. Almost three-quarters of all overnight stays in the UK are made by fellow Brits. That makes sense – few countries offer quite so much variety within easy reach, from walking the Norfolk coast and exploring bookshops in Hay-on-Wye to spending a weekend discovering Liverpool’s musical heritage and famous nightlife.
On Airbnb, we’re seeing guests rediscovering what’s on their own doorstep and once they do, they find extraordinary variety. The UK’s cultural infrastructure is a large part of that: free world-class museums, living heritage sites, historic pubs and high streets, and accessible national parks. This is why Airbnb launched the inaugural £1m Best of British Fund last year, investing in the organisations, businesses and attractions that make communities across the UK great places to live and visit.
Does the UK always make the most of these assets?
Despite all that unique variety, holidaymakers face a number of barriers to making the most of what the country has to offer.
The first is affordability. The cost of a UK overnight stay is up over 25 per cent in two years. Almost half of Brits recently said booking a UK holiday now felt out of reach, a striking thing to hear people say about their own country. At the same time, hospitality businesses are facing rising costs: from tax increases, changes to business rates, higher National Insurance contributions and the abolition of tax relief for self-catering businesses.
These seemingly small changes add up over time, making it harder for businesses to keep prices down for visitors already squeezed by inflation. The government’s VAT cut on family attractions was a welcome acknowledgement that many of the joyful things working people value most are becoming harder to afford. But it is a small step.
Airbnb helps counter that: UK guests said platforms like Airbnb saved them £54 per trip on average, adding up to £390m on accommodation costs last year – money that stayed in the domestic economy rather than being spent abroad. We’ve also partnered with the Family Holiday Charity in an effort to help address the growing ‘holiday gap’ and make travel more accessible and affordable for UK families.
The second factor is the distribution of accommodation options. Recent research shows that over half of Brits are keen to discover lesser-known destinations across the UK, but London and a handful of other destinations absorb the bulk of visitors.
Whilst the demand is there, communities with extraordinary attractions often see only a small share of visitor spending as they may lack the accommodation infrastructure of bigger destinations. This is where Airbnb has a unique role to play: hosts unlock accommodation, enabling visitors to stay and spend in more corners of the UK. These are often the very communities where a few thousand extra visitors a year could be transformative.
What are some of the opportunities that come with hosting?
Airbnb is more than a place to stay, it’s a way of travelling, and our hosts are at the core of that. Many are ordinary people opening up the homes they live in to diversify their income, with 40 per cent saying hosting helps them afford to stay in their homes. We will soon see the introduction of a national registration scheme for short-term lets. Airbnb supports a simple, light-touch scheme that gives local authorities the visibility they need and hosts and guests certainty.
But it’s important to recognise the regulatory burden on hosts is growing, and we are hearing real concern from hosts about whether the economics still stack up. In the last few years, hosts have absorbed changes to business rate thresholds, the abolition of the Furnished Holiday Lets tax relief scheme, and administrative obligations around visitor levies in Scotland and soon in Wales too. When hosting becomes too costly, hosts stop listing and the supply of flexible, affordable accommodation shrinks.
And a loss of hosts threatens efforts to expand UK tourism in often overlooked areas?
Economic activity tends to concentrate in established centres, whereas the visitor economy has an ability to distribute spending more widely. In 2025, guests spent more than 23 million nights in Airbnb listings across the UK. The figure I would draw attention to is a smaller one; two million of those nights were in places where traditional accommodation options were limited or unavailable. These are the communities largely absent from the policy conversation, but which stand to gain from being brought into the visitor economy.
Around half of our UK bookings now happen outside the major hotspots. And that benefit doesn’t stop at the front door. When someone stays in an Airbnb, they buy breakfast from the local café, eat in neighbourhood restaurants and shop locally. Last year, this activity totalled £3.2bn spent in local communities, which is £450 per stay on average.
How might government support and expand those benefits?
We believe there is huge value in the domestic staycation as a policy priority. When families choose a break in the UK, that spending supports the independent pubs, cafés, and local attractions at the heart of communities. Making those trips more affordable – and helping more places benefit from them – should be a more explicit government objective.
There is also an opportunity to spread that benefit further. Our data shows guests are increasingly discovering new destinations: market towns, coastal communities and rural escapes. Over the May bank holiday, more than 90 per cent of the top 20 destinations were rural. City-fringe breaks are growing too, giving guests access to major events, with more space at a lower price. The demand is there; the opportunity is to help more communities benefit from it.
Does the current political climate align with those goals?
The devolution agenda creates a genuine opportunity to build regional visitor economy strategies rooted in local knowledge and priorities. A clear and consistent framework for any future tourist levy would minimise friction, while giving local areas flexibility to invest in their visitor economies.
We are championing British breaks: making them more accessible and affordable for families across the UK, while helping more communities benefit from tourism.
That means bringing visitors and spend to local places, while backing the businesses and attractions that make them worth exploring. We have the data, the reach and the appetite to work with government to help drive growth in every postcode.
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