With this summer set to be a bumper year for staycations, leading holiday letting agency, holidaycottages.co.uk has seen record increases across the UK for self-catering summer bookings.

Compared to the same period in 2014, bookings made so far in 2015 for holidays through the summer period (June – August) are up 16 per cent across the UK. Most impressively the North of England has seen an increase of 329 per cent, with other areas in the North also performing well including, Yorkshire (73 per cent), Yorkshire Coast (59 per cent) and North Yorkshire Moors (50 per cent).

Wales has also seen staggering increases with a 101 per cent increase across the country with holidaymakers preferring South Wales which has seen a 226 per cent increase year-on-year.

Furthermore, Gloucestershire has seen an increase of 82 per cent in bookings, whilst neighbouring Wiltshire is up 50 per cent on last year. The South West as a whole has seen a 15 per cent increase with North Devon alone seeing an 11 per cent increase and Somerset up 19 per cent.

Scotland isn't missing out either, with areas such as Angus seeing a 175 per cent increase. Other popular Scottish areas include Scottish Borders (82 per cent), The Highlands (75 per cent) and Inverness (64 per cent).

James Morris, Managing Director commented on these statistics:

“We forecast 2015 would be a big year for UK tourism and are so pleased to see the figures backing up our predictions. The UK has so much to offer across the country and as a national company we are proud to play a part in promoting it to our holidaymakers from the UK and further afield.”

He continued, “The upwards trend in bookings can be attributed to a number of factors. With the warmer temperatures we've experienced in the last few years and predictions of the warmest summer yet, we expect more people to flock to the UK instead of spending their well-earned holiday time queueing at airports or spending hours travelling on a plane. Another factor is the decrease in petrol prices, meaning it is now more affordable to travel in your car exploring local areas.”

About holidaycottages.co.uk

An award-winning national business, holidaycottages.co.uk specialises in letting holiday properties all across the UK including dog-friendly cottages, family properties and romantic, group and accessible holidays. Holidaycottages.co.uk let everything from cosy barn conversions on working farms, to grand mansions and country houses sleeping multiple numbers of guests.

Notes to editor:

• Holidaycottages.co.uk is an independent company and features 2,000 self-catering properties in popular holiday destinations across the UK.
• Winners of the Best Medium Holiday Cottage Booking Company 2014 at the British Travel Awards.
• The company offers a high standard of personally inspected holiday cottages which can be booked online via their user-friendly website, or over the phone with their Reservations Team.
• The company has been working with the Green Tourism Business Scheme – a nationally recognised scheme organised by Visit Britain – and currently hold the Gold award.

For more press information or hi-res photographs contact:
Emma Southcombe on 01237 459 809 or email esouthcombe@holidaycottages.co.uk