Industry News
For need-to-know industry news from VisitEngland and VisitBritain, keep reading below.
12.5 Million Planning Easter Weekend Trips
VisitEngland’s latest Easter Trip Tracker survey (published March 2026) indicates that 12.5 million Brits are planning an overnight UK trip over the Easter weekend, bringing an estimated £4.8 billion boost to the economy!
Not only is this more than those planning a trip abroad, the figures are also up by 1.9 million on 2025, marking how important the Easter period is to tourism. So, there’s no better time than now to continue shouting about the incredible offer here in Norwich and Norfolk, whether you’re an attraction, hospitality, accommodation or retail!
To read the press release in full, click here.
Accessibility Update
With the spending power of disabled people and their households (also known as the Purple Pound) worth £275 billion to the UK economy, making your business as accessible as possible is more important than ever.
Sharing accessibility information is extremely important as many people with physical and mental disabilities prefer to look up destinations in advance. A lack of accessibility information is likely to prevent them from visiting.
Here are some easy ways to improve your accessibility:
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Have a clearly titled and easily located ‘Accessibility’ page on your website.
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Highlight as many details on facilities, features and support as possible, including accessible toilets, parking and large print documents. Consider offering even more detail, such as the width of doorways and different surfaces.
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Remember accessibility affects a wide range of people, including wheelchair users, d/Deaf people and those with mental health conditions.
An Easy Win: Stoma-Friendly Toilets
Did you know that one of the easiest ways to improve your accessibility is with a stoma-friendly toilet? This doesn’t have to be a disabled toilet – ‘normal’ cubicles can be easily adapted to cater to people using a stoma bag.
Key changes include: hooks to hang clothing and belongings, shelves to lay out medical supplies, bins inside the cubicle (an important addition for male toilets), mirrors (though not always essential) and a stoma-friendly toilet sign.
For more information, please read this guide to stoma-friendly toilets and visit the Colostomy UK website.
We want to include as much information as possible on our Accessibility in Norwich page! If you make any changes or already have a stoma-friendly toilet, please let us know by emailing [email protected].
This Month’s VisitEngland Sentiment Tracker
You can find VisitEngland’s Domestic Sentiment Tracker for March here.
In this month’s Sentiment Tracker, cost-of-living perceptions have declined, with most UK adults being ‘cautious and very careful’ (42%) or ‘alright and unaffected’ (28%).
Intentions for overnight domestic trips in spring and summer are in line with last year, with 68% committed to UK trips for April. The number of UK adults more likely to choose UK trips (36%) outweighs overseas travel (26%) because they’re easier to plan (53%), with perceived financial barriers to overnight domestic trips declining overall.
Short breaks continue to dominate, with the top destination ‘a city or large town’ for April – June and July – September and ‘hotel/ motel/ inn’ the leading accommodation. The top motivation remains ‘family time or time with my partner’ for both periods and ‘trying local food and drink’ the top activity, followed by ‘walking, hiking or rambling’.
