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Fewer Brits visit Denmark since Brexit vote, reversing previous trend

The Local Denmark
The Local Denmark - [email protected]
Fewer Brits visit Denmark since Brexit vote, reversing previous trend
Photo: Anne Bæk/Ritzau Scanpix

The number of overnight stays by British citizens in Denmark fell by 2 percent between 2016 and 2018.

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British guests staying overnight at Danish hotels, holiday centres, camping sites, hostels and marina fell by 17,600 or 2 percent from 2016 to 2018, data from Statistics Denmark shows.

In the same period, the total number of overnight stays by all tourists increased by 1.03 million or 9 percent, the stats agency found.

Between 2009 and 2016, the volume of British tourists increased by 421,300 overnight stays or 88 percent.

There was also a notable drop in British tourists visiting the country in the early months of this year. In January and February, the number of British overnight stays in Denmark fell by 7 percent, writes dibusiness.dk.

The decline in British tourism in Denmark could be related to political uncertainty in the UK, according to a representative for Danish businesses.

“The great uncertainty around Brexit unfortunately means that British tourists have not been travelling to the extent they normally do,” said Sune K. Jensen, head of the tourism section at the Confederation of Danish Industry (Dansk Industri, DI).

“If the trend we have seen over the last two years continues, with the British market declining, the UK may no longer be Denmark’s fifth-largest tourism market by the end of the year,” Jensen continued.

During the first two months of the year, the number of American tourists in the country conversely increased by 8.8 percent, according to Statistics Denmark figures.

“American tourists have gained an appetite for Denmark, and the USA could conceivably overtake the UK as Denmark’s fifth-largest tourist market. We can see how important it is for Danish tourism to work with different markets to cushion losses when one declines,” Jensen said.

Although fewer Britons have chosen to stay in Denmark, overall numbers for the tourism sector are healthy, with a 5.5 percent increase in overnight stays in February compared to the same month in 2018.

READ ALSO: Where do Britons live in Denmark, and how many have become Danish citizens?

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