Are we finally seeing a return to normal in the entertainment and consumer spending levels throughout the UK now the lockdowns of the pandemic era are well and truly history? The statistics would suggest yes.

Topping Pre-Pandemic Levels

For many British industries, there’s been two key milestones to meet to truly declare the pandemic a thing of the past. For most of 2021, the urgent metric was any kind of upswing at all as industries across the cards fought to recover from the shutdown of businesses under lockdown restrictions. And upward growth is always good.   However, to truly declare a wider recovery underway, there was one more line to cross- and that’s meeting the benchmarks of the last pre-pandemic year, 2019. Until industries can at least echo the jumping-off point they entered the pandemic with, then there’s no real growth in the wider market.   For broad swathes of the entertainment and travel sectors across Britain, there’s been a collective sigh of relief as that critical measurement has at last been reached- and surpassed. The latest data on entertainment spending in the UK shows that that has been officially reached. With the final months of 2021, and early 2022, now on record, we see a rise of roughly 16% on the corresponding 2019 levels. The only sector still lagging behind is, understandably, international travel. Here, the clinging remainders of pandemic restrictions, and a newly conservative approach to forging travel post-pandemic, still continues to hinder full recovery. Instead, the ‘staycation’ and exploring iconic British locals has come to the fore.

Changed Trends

However, that doesn’t mean everything has gone back to just how it was. While some outdoor entertainment, like music festivals, theaters, and theme parks, have seen a big jump in spending, it’s also clear that how  the British spend their free time has changed considerably.    With the streaming boom in 2020, staying in to watch the TV has become a new entertainment norm. In fact, 2021 saw Brits spend a record-busting £10 billion on home-related entertainment services and streaming subscriptions.   But Netflix and Chill isn’t the only thing keeping us looking to our homes as the new happening entertainment hub. There’s been a concurrent rise in playing in online casinos for real money in the UK too. While it’s not a secret that the British love a brief flutter on a variety of sports and casino games, the ability to place wagers and replicate the casino experience from home has taken off in a major way.    Surprisingly, we’ve also seen a notable gain in the sales of physical media, including music, despite pre-pandemic predictions that these industries were dying. And possibly the darkest entertainment horse of all has been the global swing to podcasts and audio storytelling as one of the hottest new industries around. While the idea of listening to a compelling story with no accompanying visuals is hardly new- the radio would like to remind you it was one of the first true in-home entertainment industries- it has been reinvented for the modern ear in a big way.   While the UK may be staying home a lot more, this widespread recovery in the entertainment industry is good news indeed, and one that speaks to a greater economic recovery too.