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What MPs Have Said About The Possibility Of An Extra Bank Holiday In October

by Alice Broster
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This weekend marks the second bank holiday in May. However, because of COVID-19, those who were planning to go on trips abroad have most likely had to cancel their plans. Now experts have recommended there be an extra bank holiday in October in a bid to help the travel industry get back on its feet – but will MPs go for it?

On May 19, the BBC reported that Head of Visit Britian Patricia Yates spoke in front of the Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport Select Committee to explain how the domestic tourism industry had lost out due to this year's May bank holidays looking so different from normal.

"Every time we do the modelling, the figures get worse," Yates told MPs. She said that domestic tourists is usually worth £80 billion a year, but she was expecting that to be down by £22 billion for 2020. It's for this reason that Visit Britain were asking for an October bank holiday to be introduced.

In response, MPs said they were all for supporting the tourism industry through this "challenging period" and would "respond in due course" to the proposal. However, spokesperson for Downing Street did point out that extra bank holidays do come with "economic costs" of their own.

The government has recently started to loosen lockdown rules within the UK, but they are still asking people to exercise caution when it comes to travelling anywhere outside their home. For the moment, it seems nothing will be changing in the bank holiday schedule, but watch this space.

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