A study by the New Economics Foundation has found a national decline in domestic tourism is affecting the UK seaside economies the hardest, with spending at coastal resorts during summer 2025 down by more than a quarter on the same period in 2022.
The New Economics Foundation has reported that domestic tourism spending dropped 28 percent between 2025 and 2022, equivalent to £2.6bn, with the number of nights spent on staycation falling 20 percent over the same period.
The British seaside has been one of the areas hardest hit by the downturn, with spending at coastal resorts during summer last year down 28 percent on the same period three years earlier, despite 2025 being the sunniest year on record.
“Soaring costs on high streets, matched with huge tax reliefs for air travel, leads to an obvious conclusion: British households are shifting their spending to foreign high streets while ours decline,” said NEF’s senior economist Alex Chapman.
“Our historic seaside destinations, already among the most deprived communities in the country, are suffering the most.”
According to data from the study, the number of nights spent on domestic holidays last year dropped by 14 million, or 5 percent, since 2024, a worrying trend for seaside resorts, which remain heavily dependent on domestic over international tourism.
Analysis from the House of Commons library also shows that the inbound tourism economy may have “tipped into decline,” with international tourists spending 5 million fewer nights in the UK between 2023 and 2024.
“It’s time for a policy reset,” said Chapman. “We need wholesale reform of business rates, taxing land hoarding instead of investment, and devolving power and money to local communities. We also need to stop subsidising air travel, and instead direct tax revenues to revitalising our historic destinations.”
The NEF publication calls for a complete overhaul of the tax system to make pubs and high streets more competitive with international counterparts, achieved by splitting business rates into two separate taxes: a devolved property tax which would be paid by businesses occupying a property, and a national land value tax which would be paid by the landowner.
“This would offer relief to businesses renting properties on the high street by lowering their taxes, while taxing land ownership fairly. As well as injecting cash into struggling pubs, other high street businesses like restaurants and hotels would also benefit.”
Seaside on the slide
Alex Chapman said… “Our historic seaside destinations, already among the most deprived communities in the country, are suffering the most…It’s time for a policy reset. We need wholesale reform of business rates, taxing land hoarding instead of investment, and devolving power and money to local communities…
Originally published on Coinslot on February 16, 2026. Republished with permission.