Motivations, Influences, Decisions and Sustainability Research (MIDAS)
At a glance
- Global tourism demand has recovered post-pandemic, with Britain remaining a priority destination among international travellers.
- Britain's competitive strengths centre on its blend of history and modernity within an easily navigable destination structure.
- Value for money has emerged as a dominant factor influencing holiday choice across surveyed markets.
- Personal recommendations and digital channels remain critical throughout the traveller journey for inspiration, information and trust.
- Package bookings maintain particular strength among some of Britain's largest inbound tourism markets.
What the report covers
VisitBritain commissioned this large-scale global study to map international traveller motivations, decision-making influences, perceptions of Britain and attitudes towards sustainable tourism in the post-pandemic era. Fieldwork covered 29 markets between March and April 2022. The research examines appetite for travel and Britain specifically, brand perceptions, product preferences, the visitor experience, and emerging drivers including sustainability, wellbeing and diversity. Supplementary analysis focused on premium travellers (top 25–33% of spenders) and the customer journey across key intermediaries.
Key findings
Global tourism demand has rebounded following the pandemic, and Britain retains priority-destination status even among recently-returned visitors. The report indicates sustained appeal across all surveyed markets, signalling that Britain competes effectively despite travel competition intensifying post-reopening.
Britain's positioning as a destination of choice rests on its capacity to combine historical depth with modern infrastructure and experiences within a single, navigable geography. This duality—heritage plus contemporary amenities—differentiates Britain in the international market and underpins its attractiveness.
Value for money has become the dominant motivator shaping holiday decisions globally. This shift underscores post-pandemic consumer priorities: travellers now weight cost-value equations more heavily than in pre-crisis periods, with implications for pricing, positioning and product bundling strategies.
Interpersonal recommendations and digital channels operate as joint pillars throughout the tourism journey—from inspiration and information-gathering to booking and beyond. Trust flows through both peer networks and online platforms, indicating that distribution and marketing strategies must integrate both channels seamlessly.
Package bookings show particular resilience and strength among Britain's largest inbound markets. This finding suggests that bundled travel products (accommodation, transport, activities) retain strong appeal for certain source markets, potentially related to convenience, trust and perceived value.
Key numbers
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Survey coverage (markets) | 29 |
| Premium traveller segment (proportion of spending by market) | Top 25–33% |
| Fieldwork period | March–April 2022 |
Figures as published in the source; forecasts and survey results are labelled as such in the note.
Why it matters
DMOs & destinations
Understanding that value for money now dominates decision-making requires repositioning destination marketing and pricing strategies. DMOs should audit whether current messaging emphasises cost-value balance and whether bundled offerings and transparency around total trip cost can sharpen competitive positioning against rival destinations.
Hotels & hospitality
Package-booking strength in key markets signals opportunity to deepen distribution partnerships and commission structures with tour operators and travel intermediaries. Hotels should also examine pricing signals to ensure value perception aligns with market expectations, particularly for mass affluent segments whose motivations may diverge from mainstream travellers.
Travel tech & distribution
Dual reliance on personal recommendations and digital channels means technology platforms must support seamless peer-review integration, social proof and trusted-intermediary visibility. Algorithms should prioritise transparency around value metrics to match the post-pandemic consumer priority, and APIs must facilitate package-assembly across operators and suppliers.
Methodology and limits
This large-scale global study surveyed consumers across 29 international markets during March–April 2022, capturing post-pandemic travel attitudes. The source text does not specify sample size, sampling method or statistical weighting. The research covers motivations, influences on decision-making, destination perceptions and sustainability attitudes. Supplementary deep-dive analyses focused on premium travellers and customer-journey touchpoints. Visualisation tools and downloadable pivot tables are provided to support granular exploration. This brief is based on the publicly available summary only; full methodological detail is available in the complete PDF report.
Official source
The report is © VisitBritain. This brief is an original editorial summary by TourismIntel — it quotes only figures published in the source and never reproduces the document.
Check the official statistics on Pulse
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