Tourism - key to Britain's growth in 2013

As 2012 draws to a close, we take a positive look back at the highs of a tourism industry surviving, and not infrequently thriving, during tough economic times.

Many of our clients enjoyed an exciting and, in the case of Beeston Castle, pleasantly surprising year. During a routine ‘hibernation check’ the Cheshire Bat Group discovered lesser horseshoe bats roosting in caves around the English Heritage property. Last recorded at the site in 1948, this plum-sized species (usually restricted to Wales and the Midlands) was a thrilling find for local wildlife enthusiasts.

Last month, SnowdonMountain Railway took delivery of new carriages for the first time since their existing ones were introduced in the 1920s. Providing extra comfort and with space for additional passengers, the modern coaches nevertheless retain an original look and feel of the steam era. Funding was provided in part by the Welsh Government.

A Bactarian camel calf was born at Knowsley Safari Park in March. Hundreds of visitors flocked to see the double-humped youngster, which is endangered in the wild.

Sticking with the animal theme, two Asian short-clawed otters were born at ChesterZoo in May. The babies were named Daley and Rebecca in honour of the popular British Olympians: diver Tom Daley and swimmer Rebecca Adlington.

Nationally, pubs serving food profited from UK diners eating out more frequently (according to Horizons’ Quickbite Survey). Data showed that the average adult eats out almost three times over a two-week period, with pub restaurants accounting for 19% of those visits.

Back in June, the international Passenger Survey revealed that Britain had benefitted from an increase in inbound tourism with a 10% leap during April (a record 2.9 million visits from overseas and spending at £1.4 billion), compared with the same period the previous year. All told, the first four months of 2012 saw 9.3 million visits – a significant 6% increase. Over the year as a whole, inbound tourism contributed 18.7 billion to Britain’s economy, making it the nation’s third biggest earner of foreign exchange.

In August, the number of domestic overnight holidays rose by 13% (Great Britain Tourism Survey), with just under eight million trips taken that month. Figures from the national tourist board also showed that domestic trips had increased during 2012.

So, what can the industry expect from 2013? According to VisitBritain there will be a probable 3% increase in international tourism, which will mean almost one million additional visits to the UK. There is no doubt that we will continue to face many challenges both nationally and locally but, as the Culture Secretary, Maria Miller made clear at the World Travel Market in November, tourism is key to the UK's growth strategy and many think it could be our fastest growing sector over the next decade.

On that upbeat note, we would like to wish our clients, associates, friends and readers a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year!

Image: Traditional Christmas tree, ©VisitBritain /Britain on View 2010

We end the year on a high

As 2011 draws to a close, we share a few good news stories with our readers to brighten up the festive season:

One of the big industry storms of the last few months has been over the closure of popular Tourist Information Centres up and down the country. However, the picture isn’t entirely bleak. The TIC in Mold’s Daniel Owen Square has recently been given a face-lift and is now focusing on promoting Flintshire as a tourist destination. The official opening earlier this month was attended by local dignitaries, including the chairman of Flintshire Tourism Association, John Les Tomos. Rebranded as Mold Visitor Centre, it is hoped that the office will continue to be used on a regular basis by locals and visitors alike.

Last week, Chester Zoo announced that it was celebrating the highest ever number of visitors through its turnstiles. The attraction’s Managing Director, Barbara Smith, said: “Never before in the zoo’s history have so many people visited us in a calendar year and so we’re absolutely delighted – it’s a fantastic feat.”

The zoo has also revealed that a “bigger and better” set of animatronic dinosaurs from the USA is set to return in 2012, following the huge success of Dinosaurs at Large! earlier this year.

Finally, a few random facts and figures to gladden the heart: VisitBritain says it expects about 30.7 million visitors, spending some £17.6 billion, to stay in Britain next year; festivals in North Wales (including the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod) are set to share in a £1.5 million cash boost from the Arts Council of Wales and; newly released data shows that the UK attracted 2.77 million international travellers in October - the best results in three years and just below a record 2.82 million arrivals in October 2007, prior to the global economic downturn.

As regular readers of Swift Flyer will know, LDS Tourism Services has several exciting projects in the pipeline – all will be revealed over the coming weeks. The Company will also be celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2012, so it is going to be a very special year for founders, Diana and Paula Bardell-Hedley.

In the meantime, we would like to take this opportunity to wish everybody a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Here’s to a successful and prosperous year ahead!

Spring brings new growth for local tourism

A great many attractions have reaped the benefits of the double Bank Holiday and glorious sunshine this year. Tourism operators in the region are reporting an upsurge in visitors from France, China and the USA – due in no small part to the low level of the pound – and accommodation providers say they have been forced to turn people away.

Industry insiders are starting to see improvements this spring, in some cases because visitors are changing their habits. For instance, the National Trust (NT) recently conducted research into the habits of British holidaymakers and found that 27% of them were planning to take at least 10 single-day holidays this year. A further 36% said they intended to take between five and 10 'daycations' during the same period. According to NT, these multiple single days off work will allow Brits to make the most of their time off and have shorter holidays more frequently within the UK.

More good news from our clients

Chester Zoo has a delightful baby elephant named Jamilah to thank for helping it achieve a massive 33% increase in visitor numbers at the start of the year. The popular attraction announced it had 104,856 visitors between 1st January and 27th February, compared with 78,833 in the same period last year. The charity also revealed it was the most visited zoo in the UK during 2010, with 1,154,285 people passing through the gates, making it the 17th most popular visitor attraction in the country.

Cadw has allocated £600,000 from its Heritage Tourism Project to allow Denbigh Castle to begin work on a new visitor facility. Enhancements to the 13th century fortress will include new walks, improvements to its interpretation and upgraded links with Denbigh's wider historic landscape.

On Good Friday, Cambrian Heritage Railways started operating a passenger service from a station in Shropshire for the first time since the 1960s. After twelve months of hard work, the service now operates over half a mile on a restored line from Oswestry Station to Middleton Road Bridge. We are delighted to have been asked to market their promotional leaflet and wish all those involved a fun and profitable season.

Promote your business for free

I am now a Foursquare Ambassador, which means that you can access my page to connect with your loyal customers and gain new ones by finding and claiming your establishment. It’s completely free to sign up and you will be able to manage Specials and monitor your Venue Stats. Click this link and follow three simple steps to verify your business on Foursquare.

Please feel free to contact us if you have questions regarding location based marketing or any other service supplied by LDS Tourism Services.

Image: Cherry Blossom, © Eve Parry, 2011

A Brighter Outlook For 2011

Christmas is fast approaching and we are looking forward to celebrating the start of a new decade. It is now too that we take stock and consider the year ahead.

In recent months, financial forecasts haven’t made very pleasant reading, but there are plenty of reasons why British tourism operators should feel optimistic.

The number of holiday visits to the UK rose by about 6% between July and October, whereas the number of Brits holidaying abroad fell by 3% (Office for National Statistics) during the same period. Roger Smith, head of the International Passenger Survey for the ONS, said: “It does appear that there are signs that the large falls we have seen in the recent past have begun to stabilise and show some signs of recovery.”

In their Forecast for the Volume and Value of Inbound Tourism in 2011, VisitBritain (the UK’s national tourism agency) said that the “positive side [to the] prolonged weakness in the value of sterling continues to provide an opportunity to challenge perceptions relating to Britain's expensiveness as a destination”. They predict that the volume of inbound tourism to the UK in 2011 will be 30.0 million visits, with inbound visitors spending £17.2 billion. This 1% increase may seem slight but it is at least heading in the right direction and is an encouraging development in such gloomy times.

Ireland’s financial woes could well be advantageous to hospitality and tourism businesses in North Wales. Pay cuts in the public sector and changes to tax credits and income tax have subdued the once booming Celtic Tiger economy and will undoubtedly make an enormous difference to spending habits in 2011. The strength of the Euro against the Pound led to increased holiday bookings by Irish residents visiting North Wales in 2009/10. It now seems likely that exotic holidays will be unaffordable for some time to come and Irish holidaymakers will opt for somewhere a bit closer to home – perhaps a short ferry ride from Dun Laoghaire to Holyhead. Every cloud...

While a recent survey by StrongMail showed that a third of marketers intend to decrease their trade show spends in 2011, it also revealed that investment in social media marketing will increase by 57%. (If you scroll to the end of this article, you will see a brand new map of the world, showing the most popular social networks by country, according to Alexa & Google Trends for Websites traffic data, December 2010.)

We were, however, unsurprised to read that “print has a place in the world of new media” (PrintWeek - 10th December 2010). A report published by KPMG, the auditor running six monthly surveys on media in general, showed that “four in five consumers prefer print to online”. The latest Media and Entertainment Barometer survey by YouGov confirmed that “86% of consumers prefer to consume media offline, with the most popular reason a preference for reading physical copies”.

Please contact us to discuss your social media marketing and leaflet/brochure distribution campaigns in 2011.




Top image: ©Britainonview / David Sellman, 2010

Wrexham Has Big Plans

Bangor Bridge crossing the River Dee

Having watched the first episode in the second series of Hotel Stephanie (New Hotel Stephanie, BBC1 Wales, 10.35pm) on Tuesday night, Diana and I were looking forward to meeting the indomitable Stephanie Booth at an official gathering of the Wrexham Chamber of Trade & Tourism (WCT&T) the following evening.

For those who have been living in a hole for the last few years, Stephanie is the millionaire owner of a chain of up-market, highly successful hotels in North East Wales (seven at last count). She is also Chair of both Llangollen Chamber of Trade & Tourism and WCT&T; Group Managing Director at Global Investment Group plc. and star of the aforementioned fly-on-the-wall series. In her spare time she cares for over 300 rescue animals.

Regular readers will be aware that LDS Tourism Services has long supported the FSB’s Keep Trade Local campaign and (for obvious reasons) we very much want to see tourism thrive in the region. Joining WCT&T is our way of giving something back to the area while hopefully advancing our own business interests.

The group met at the Wynnstay Arms Hotel (Stephanie’s latest acquisition) in Wrexham town centre. Free coffee and bacon butties were provided in the Function Room before the meeting commenced, which gave everyone plenty of time to chat before the minutes were read and approved.

Stephanie is a warm, vivacious lady, with an incredible memory for facts and figures and a lively sense of humour. She spoke animatedly about her plans for the area and encouraged all present to “work together to achieve success”. Indeed, her mantra seems to be, “little people become very powerful when they work together”.

A great many topics were covered in just under two hours and much enthusiasm was shown by the vast majority of those present. Up for discussion were the Chamber’s new website, the Christmas Festival and Victorian Market, a forthcoming meeting with Wrexham County Borough Council, the Year of Culture, public toilets, hot air balloons and the importance of social media marketing.

We left feeling extremely positive about the future of Wrexham and would urge anyone with a business based in the County to join. You can download an application form right here.

The next meeting is likely to take place on 13th October at the Wynnstay Arms. Keep watching our regular Twitter updates for any changes.

Image: ©Britainonview, 2010

VIC, VCC, VW… Not Forgetting VGS (Very Good Season)!

Chester Visitor Information Centre (VIC)

We are having an exceptionally busy August with new leaflets and brochures still arriving at the Border Distribution Centre every day.

Last week, Diana and Jennifer went along to the opening of Chester’s newly refurbished Visitor Information Centre (formerly Chester TIC) at the Town Hall on Northgate Street. The official VIC - not to be confused with Chester Visitor Centre on Vicars Lane - has had a major make-over and now offers customers a friendly layout with the latest touch-screen technology. In fact, it has already welcomed 72,000 people through its doors since informally reopening in May.

The evening was a huge success and it gave Di and Jenny the perfect opportunity to catch up with long-standing clients and business associates. They were extremely impressed with the new design and had nothing but praise for the centre’s operators, Visit Chester & Cheshire (VCC).

While on the subject of VCC (the official Tourism Board for Cheshire and Warrington), we are delighted to announce that LDS Tourism Services has become an official Supplier Member of the organisation. We are extremely excited about the opportunities this creates for our clients and we look forward to helping promote tourism in the area.

The Tatton Park VW Show 2010

On 8th August, Diana and I went to the Tatton Park VWNW Show, organised by Volkswagen Northwest. Now in its 25th year, the event catered for all kinds of Volkswagen enthusiasts, from the merely curious to serious collectors. There were competitions, cars for sale, stalls offering VW merchandise and of course, plenty of gorgeous, lovingly preserved Beetles and Camper Vans on show. VW heaven!

Business is looking good

The length of the region’s holiday season is quite clearly increasing with each passing year and the leaflet pick-up rate has been phenomenal throughout 2010.

Bearing this in mind, we were unsurprised to learn from iknow-uk - a leading UK travel and tourism specialist - that there was a “huge surge in visitors” last month. The Lancashire-based company, which operates 15 regional accommodation and hospitality websites covering the UK’s most popular holiday destinations, reported a 25% increase in visitors for the month of July with 1.25 million users. Add this to information released by the Office for National Statistics and it seems likely we could be in for a late season rush. Fingers crossed.

Do keep sending us your comments, queries and suggestions – we love to hear your news and views. If you require a quotation for autumn/winter literature distribution or social media marketing services, please contact us on 01244 671859 or lds@ldsts.co.uk.

Images © LDS Tourism Services Ltd., 2010

Stampede Expected Through Chester

Chester is without doubt one of the best places to be this summer.

Earlier today we took delivery of the Rhino Mania trail guides – an exciting and colourful art exhibition happening in the City from 5th July to 12th September.

To join in the fun you should grab a map and go in search of 62 uniquely decorated rhino sculptures positioned in and around Chester. The enormous fiberglass animals have all been individually named and hand-painted by top artists - so they should be easy to find - and there will be an additional 120 mini rhinos dotted around the trail created by local school children.

Rhinos are one of the most endangered creatures on earth, so in addition to celebrating the City’s cultural identity the event will raise money for the Black Rhino Field Conservation Project in Kenya and Tanzania. Official Rhino Mania merchandise, including a souvenir guide and six ceramic rhinos, will be available from Chester Zoo, Chester Tourist Information Centre and Browns of Chester – Debenhams.

And that’s not all…

Diana and I went along with other family members to Ladies Evening at Chester Races last Friday. We had a marvellous time in the glorious sunshine and twice backed a winning horse, which more than covered our costs for the evening. There are a number of forthcoming events to look forward to at the Racetrack, such as Ladies and Gents Evening on 9th July and Family Funday on 1st August. I thoroughly recommend you go along for the experience and to have a little flutter on the gee gees.

Over the coming weeks you should also look out for Chester’s Summer Music Festival (30th June – 14th July), Cholmondeley Castle’s Pageant of Power (17-18th July) and Tatton Park’s Picnic Concerts (31st July).

To find out about these and oodles of other events taking place in the region throughout July, pick up the latest issue of What’s On in Chester & Cheshire, which is appearing in hotels, tourist attractions, camp sites, pubs, restaurants, TICs and LDSTS TIPs as you read this article.

 

Image: Chester Races, © Visit Chester & Cheshire

Social Networking & New Clients Keep LDSTS Busy

New leaflets and brochures continue to arrive at the Border Distribution Centre every day, including many from brand new clients such as The Trentham Estate in Staffordshire – which is currently undergoing a £100 million regeneration project aimed at creating a unique visitor destination of national importance.

The Foursquare Revolution

We are rather excited about a relatively new social networking application to arrive on the scene. Foursquare is a geographical guide, which allows users to broadcast their locations via mobile devices and earn points for checking-in.

Savvy business owners are rapidly catching on to the immense marketing potential of a platform that encourages people to explore their neighbourhoods. Indeed, they are starting to engage with loyal customers by offering ‘Specials’ - discounts and prizes - to those who visit their Foursquare venue pages.

Ever since our friends at Cromwells Restaurant first alerted us to Foursquare in a blog article, we have been busily adding the details of LDSTS's clients and TIP hosts to the system. It has been great fun test-driving the application whilst winning ‘Mayorships’ and collecting badges for being the most frequent visitors to local attractions, hotels, pubs, theatres, retail outlets and other popular spots. Our verdict: Foursquare could very well be the next big thing in social networking, equal, perhaps, to Twitter.

We will, of course, include Foursquare in all our Social Media Marketing packages from now on, so please do contact us if you require further details.

From ‘Staycation’ to ‘Kidcation’

There has been a positive glut of good news stories about the UK’s domestic tourism industry emerging in recent weeks. Organisers of the Best of Britain and Ireland Travel Trade Forum reported a 5% increase in the show’s attendance in March, which they believe underlines the growing trend for ‘staycationing’, and according to ABTA, somewhere in the region of 10.5 million people took a holiday in the UK over Easter.

The Thistle Hotels’ group has also reported a substantial rise in enquiries and bookings for what it describes as “kidcations” at its city–based premises across the country. The 33-strong chain says that many families have “traded down” from overseas package holidays and believe the trend signals: “a change in attitudes, with parents looking to treat the family to short breaks that combine fun with learning – showing that city breaks are no longer just the preserve of romantic couples and serious culture vultures.”

Are you seeing bookings picking up? Please post your comments below or drop us an email.


Image: iPhone, Blackberry and Android in use, © Foursquare, 2010

Snacking & Shopping: Tourism & Retraining in 2010

Cheshire Oaks' Visitor Information Centre

As long-standing members of the Chester Partnership (not to mention sole distributors for the group), we received an invitation to attend the official opening of the Visitor Information Centre at Cheshire Oaks Designer Outlet on 4th March. Jenny and Hayley went along to the event and were delighted to spot many familiar faces along with a few new ones. They were also fascinated to learn of CORA (Cheshire Oaks Retail Academy) - the brand new centre for retail training at the Wirral-based shopping village - which was being launched in concert with the TIC.

In addition to servicing this new information centre, we have installed two LDSTS Tourist Information Points (TIPs) at the Customer Information Desk inside Cheshire Oaks' busy Foodcourt. Please contact us if you would like your leaflets or brochures displayed there.

If you are considering a career in the retail industry, it is certainly worth checking out the Cheshire Oaks Retail Academy website to find out about the unique training programmes on offer.

We came across an interesting article published on the TravelMole website last month. According to a report by Dinah Hatch: “Brits are taking more holiday ‘snacks’ and less vacation three course meals.” She revealed that a YouGov poll had shown that people are “more likely” to go on a short break in the UK in 2010 than last year. She also said that Hoseasons’ chief executive, Richard Carrick, had stated that his Company’s short break holiday bookings were already up by 25% and their 2009 Christmas breaks had “soared by 68%”.

Could British holidaymakers be falling back in love their homeland or is it merely a passing trend caused only by the financial downturn? Please drop us a line sharing your opinions and personal experiences. The most interesting replies will be published on this blog.

Cheshire Oaks' Visitor Information Centre

Images © LDS Tourism Services Ltd, 2010

Braced For The Easter Rush

Where has January gone? Soon it will be ‘silly season’ (the frenzied run up to Easter) for LDS Tourism Services and we will be dashing from one TIP to another, distributing all the last minute brochures and leaflets. Believe it or not, literature continues to arrive at our warehouse right up to Good Friday - but we always do our upmost to get the best coverage possible in whatever time remains.

We were delighted to read on the TravelMole website that British Airways and EasyJet are to offer low cost flights from twelve European countries to 10 UK cities as part of a tourism drive by VisitBritain - among them Liverpool and Manchester. The promotion follows last year’s 'See More Britain For Less' campaign, which highlighted the affordability of travel to the UK. Apparently, the latest campaign is “based around contrasting themes” of the chosen cities “with information on traditional and contemporary experiences with a twist”. The campaign’s micro-sites can be accessed via visitbritain.com

If you have five minutes to spare, it is also well worth checking out the Why We Love Britain page on WinkBall. Reporters have been dispatched to find out what “one thing” people love most about being in Britain. You can see their answers and add your own video messages too, but please ensure you have javascript enabled and flash installed first.

Visit Chester and Cheshire (VCC), the tourism management organisation for Cheshire and Warrington, held an ‘At Home’ event in their offices above Chester Railway Station on 21st January. Diana, Jenny and Hayley went along to the informal gathering to catch up with long-standing associates, meet others involved in the local tourist industry and chat with the team about their plans for the future. The evening was extremely successful, with plenty of networking opportunities and an abundance of Moët and delicious nibbles laid on. A big thank you to all at VCC from the managers at LDSTS for a very pleasant evening.

Jenny and Hayley will also be attending the Success Through People day at Haydock Park Racecourse on 4th February. Be sure to say “hello” if you bump into them.

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Image: VCC offices, Chester © LDS Tourism Services Ltd, 2010

A Busy Year Ahead For LDS Tourism Services

Although data published by ONS in the latest Overseas Travel and Tourism Statistical Bulletin shows that inbound travel to the UK was down by 9% in the year to September (contributed to by a 24% drop in business travel to the UK), VisitBritain believes that the UK tourist industry has reached a “turning point” and predicts that inbound tourism will help lead Britain’s economic recovery during the months ahead with modest growth expected in 2010.

More encouraging still is a recent survey by VisitEngland, which has found that almost three quarters of adults (72%) are likely to take a domestic break next year. The study suggests the return of the great British holiday is no ‘flash in the pan’, but a result of changing attitudes as UK residents shun outbound travel for holidays on home soil. According to TravelMole, James Berresford, the chief executive of VisitEngland has said that research “further confirms and highlights” the staycation is “here to stay”.

There is certainly little sign of local tourism operators cutting back on their promotional leaflets and brochures in 2010. If anything, it seems that LDSTS’ clients are scaling back on other forms of advertising in order to increase their annual print-runs and make full use of our popular Network Service.

The use of micro-blogging sites such as Twitter is also gaining rapid penetration within the travel industry. According to a new study by Andy Jarosz, writer and owner of the travel blog 501 Places, managing directors, commercial directors, hotel owners and government officials are actively using social media tools to forge connections with their customers.

Life is as hectic as ever for the management and employees of LDS Tourism Services. In addition to the numerous meetings, tight distribution schedules and newly signed contracts, we are currently giving the Border Distribution Centre a fresh lick of paint.

We recently became a member of The Mersey Partnership, the official Tourist Board for Merseyside. Our advert is now live on visitLiverpool.com and we are looking forward to networking with fellow members of this esteemed organisation.

Incidentally, there are now 669 members of our Brochure Marketing group on LinkedIn – an interconnected network of experienced professionals from around the world.

Please keep sending us your comments, queries and suggestions, especially concerning the topics and issues you would like to see tackled on this blog.

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A Successful Summer for LDS Tourism and Clients

As ever at this time of year, we are hectically busy preparing for the schools to close – in fact, some have already broken up for the summer. There are also lots of new leaflets and brochures available, including (but certainly not limited to): Manchester Events, Chirk Castle, Echo Arena What's On Summer 09, Brimstage Maize Maze and the Cywain Centre Bala.

We are delighted to report that 2009 is proving immensely rewarding for many of our clients, too.

Go Ape High Wire Forest Adventure won the Responsible Tourism category in the TravelMole 2009 Web Awards. The Delamere Forest based attraction beat three other companies to take the top spot and were presented with their prize at a ceremony held in Canada House, London. Many congratulations to Go Ape from all at LDS Tourism Services.

We are sending out a collective pat on the back to several other of our prize-winning customers, including: Tatton Park (Large Attraction of the Year, Visit Chester & Cheshire Awards), Blue Planet Aquarium (Best Tourism Website of the Year, Visit Chester & Cheshire Awards), The Museum of Science & Industry (Tourism Experience of the Year for Costumed performers at MoSI, Manchester Tourism Awards) and WWT Martin Mere Wetland Centre (Visitor Attraction of the Year, Lancashire & Blackpool Tourism Awards). Well done all!

There was great excitement at Blue Planet Aquarium recently when a baby shark was discovered by a diver in the enormous Caribbean Reef display. The 15cm bamboo shark was found under a rock by Terry Cookson during a routine maintenance dive. He spotted the tiny shark moving around and carefully brought him to the surface. The little nipper has now been nicknamed Rocky!

We have discovered some interesting statistics from Travel Navigator, a new national independent UK holiday survey by Arkenford. Based on questioning 2,000 adults a month about their travel plans and their booking intentions over the next three months, the latest results have revealed that people are downsizing and becoming increasingly independent when it comes to holidays this year. It would seem that more than 90% of them have booked their accommodation in advance and over 50% of these bookings have been made online and bought directly from the provider. Seventy-three percent said they would cut their spending on holidays this year. However, short breaks are set to benefit, with 20% planning to book more short breaks at home than in 2008.

It would seem to us that while a great many people have chosen to holiday at home this year, it is quite clear they want affordable breaks and are cutting back on the amount they spend. Therefore, tourism operators or resorts that decide to raise prices to cash in on the domestic bonanza are likely to find that visitors stay away.

Is your business benefitting from the current ‘Brits Stay Home’ boom? Have you noticed an increase in the number of local people visiting your attraction or establishment? Please share your thoughts and observations with us by posting a message here or by sending us an e-mail.

Main picture: Martin Mere Wetland Centre, © Jonathon Monk, 2005

Forward Planning Pays Off For Leaflet Marketing Company

As the country basks in glorious sunshine, there is every indication that camping and caravanning holidays are enjoying an amazing resurgence. Indeed, according to a recent holiday poll of over 2,000 people, thirty percent of Brits are staying in cheaper accommodation such as a tent or caravan to save money this year.

Regular readers of this blog will know that we predicted such a trend over twelve months ago. We were also correct in thinking that the strength of the euro would increase awareness of what the UK has to offer. Consequently, we were able to plan ahead and target caravan sites, B&B’s, marinas and a range of self-catering establishments with our various leaflet campaigns. We have every confidence that our forward thinking will result in clients benefitting from the predicted 20% rise in British holidays taken this summer – not to mention the shift towards leisure travellers who prefer weekend breaks.

We have a number of exciting and innovative new plans in the pipeline, which we hope to implement over the coming months in order to take full advantage of the transformation within the tourist industry caused by the recession (not least the decline in business and corporate travellers). All will be revealed in the very near future.

New leaflets and brochures continue to arrive at the Border Distribution Centre on an almost daily basis. Hot off the press are: Word of Mouth: People & Places in Wales (Issue 19), Chester Mini Guide, BugWorld Experience, Cumbria Culture Guide and many others.

If you would like further information about our services, please feel free to drop us a line or ring up for a chat on 01244 671859.

Flying High During Hard Times

TravelMole published an interesting article on their website yesterday, entitled “Brits raid piggy bank to pay for holiday”. According to research by Abbey Savings, despite soaring utility bills, ridiculous prices at the pump and mortgage payments going through the roof, millions of Brits are refusing to allow the crunch to “stop them having their two weeks playtime”.

The bank revealed that “almost two thirds of holidaymakers” are “raiding the piggy bank to pay for breaks, spending more than £50 billion”. The bank’s findings “echo a summer of stories from diverse sources suggesting that the annual holiday really is the last thing to be sacrificed in leaner times, despite daily media predictions of a massive recession just around the corner”.

We also spotted an article in RealBusiness (“Bring on the recession! It’s good for business”) in which Moir-Jones, the CEO of London Calling – a marketing agency that specialises in leaflet distribution – told the magazine she was completely unfazed by Britain’s looming recession. “When times are hard, people go back to basics”, she said. “Leaflets are a tried and tested form of marketing. During the last recession the firm did really well. We actually experienced high growth, doubling in size that year.”

This struck a chord with LDSTS Directors, Diana and Paula, who set up the business during the slump of the early 90s. “I think we benefitted from our client’s reduced marketing budgets,” says Di. “Without a doubt, printed literature positioned in the right place to catch the eye of potential visitors has always been one of the most successful and cost effective ways to promote an attraction, region or event. Other advertising methods may bite the dust when we hit a downturn but brochures are indispensible when it comes to any short or long-term marketing campaign.”

We recently received a letter of thanks from The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) for sending them our latest batch of used postage stamps for their Save the Albatross charity appeal, which helps raise valuable funds for the protection of these magnificent birds. They thanked us for donating the stamps and expressed a hope that we would continue to do so – which, of course, we will!

If anyone else would like to do something positive to help protect birds around the world, please send your used postage stamps to:

R.S.P.B.
PO Box 6198
Leighton Buzzard
Bedfordshire
LU7 9XT.

Brochure Marketing Group Keeps On Growing

We can reveal that (as of posting this blog entry) there are 213 members of our Brochure Marketing group on LinkedIn. A wide variety of people involved in the promotional print industry continue to sign-up on a daily basis and there are many interesting conversations taking place on the official forum. Please feel free to pose a question or join in one of the many fascinating discussions – you don’t need to be a group member to get involved. Clients, business associates and employees of LDS Tourism Services Ltd. are also encouraged to join the Company’s own special group (Friends of LDS Tourism Services).

Last week, Diana and Paula spent several hours ambling around the Albert Dock – Liverpool’s “most visited” attraction. They were delighted to discover the area buzzing with activity as tourists, shoppers and diners made the most of the first-rate amenities on offer, including a splendid array of museums, restaurants and shops. Currently celebrating its 20th anniversary, Albert Dock has seen a massive increase in visitor numbers this year (probably assisted by the Liverpool 08 festivities) and the new Arena is proving to be a great success.

As a follow-up to our previous article on this blog, we now see that a train company poll has suggested that a third of British holidaymakers intend to stay in UK this summer. It would seem that many people are rethinking their travel plans due to the prospect of long airport delays and flight disruption. The survey shows that one in five Britons have decided not to travel by air because they feel anxious, and are instead opting for the train, car, coach or ferry. When it comes to choosing their preferred method of transport, 82% of travellers felt that the biggest consideration was cost, followed by how comfortable and convenient it is (66%), how quickly they get to their destination (63%) and how stressful/relaxing the journey will be (34%).

Everybody at LDSTS is braced for the school holidays. We’ve had an incredibly busy summer thus far, so it is likely to be a hectic period for us. We can also announce that we have just signed a contract giving us exclusive rights to display literature in Poplar 2000 Services, on the M6/56 in Lymm. Please contact Hayley at hayley@ldsts.co.uk if you would like further information about this or anything else.

Finally, we would like to share a noteworthy link:

The House of Commons Culture, Media & Sport Report on Tourism

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200708/cmselect/cmcumeds/133/133i.pdf

Easter Break Dilemma

Everyone at LDSTS actually took a day off for Easter Sunday – but it will be all systems go again on Monday!

The main problem with working through the Easter break is the large volume of traffic we have to contend with on the roads. Yesterday, for instance, there was a dreadful crash on the M6 between Junctions 16 and 17, and the motorway was closed in both directions for at least three hours. I’m sure you can imagine the tailbacks this caused and we had real problems reaching the Sandbach Roadchefs to refill our stands. However, we eventually sneaked in through the back entrances - much to the surprise of the staff!

Apparently, this has been the earliest Easter for 95 years and, although it won’t happen again for another 220 years, it has led to calls for a fixed date to be introduced to minimise disruption to the tourism industry (and others). At present, Easter Sunday can be anything from 22nd March to 25th April but it would seem that many hoteliers in the UK would prefer a definite date some time in mid-April. There is something called the Easter Act, which provides for Easter to fall on the first Sunday after the second Saturday in April, but it can only be brought into effect if Christian churches around the world agree.

The poor weather this year has also caused some major headaches and means that many businesses will open for only a couple of days and then close again for a few weeks.

Would a unified spring holiday around the first weekend in April (not linked to the religious festival) be preferable? Perhaps Good Friday and Easter Monday shouldn't be bank holidays? Surely, this would be far more sensible from the point of view of both employers and schools. What do others think?

Tourist Industry Roundup

We're up to our eyes in it as usual, but we still like to stay abreast of what's happening with our friends and colleagues in the industry. So, here are a handful of news-items we've 'homed in' on this week:

On 23rd April the 'Tourism Oscars' will take place in St Georges Hall, Liverpool, in celebration of the 2008 European Capital of Culture and St George’s Day. Amazingly, this is the first time in its 19-year history that the Enjoy England Awards for Excellence will be held outside London, so it will be quite a feather in NW England's hat. Fingers crossed that the region will also receive some recognition from the judges.

Some of you may be interested to learn that a new microsite has been launched to support the year-long Culture 08 campaign (organised to celebrate some of England's best cultural attractions), which includes a journey planner, travel itinerary with Google maps, a 'My Events' section and an 'Inspire Me' functionality, which randomly generates event details that the user could attend across England.

According to TravelMole, the "UK is the sixth most competitive country when it comes to tourism". An international study has revealed that we have moved up from 10th position in the Global Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report (put together by the World Economic Forum) - showing a marked improvement in areas such as environmental sustainability and air transport infrastructure. However, we received a comparatively low score for safety and security, coming way down the list in 65th place!

Many of you will no doubt be attending the British Travel Trade Fair in Birmingham this week - we'll be there ourselves to assist Cadw with their stand on the final day. We wish you a successful show and hope that you get plenty of useful networking opportunities. We would love to hear your thoughts on this year's event, and also, if Karl Lornie, the Paul McCartney tribute act, is a good as they say he is!

Award For Blue Planet Aquarium

We were delighted to learn that one of our long-standing clients, Blue Planet Aquarium in Ellesmere Port, was recently presented with the much prized Visitor Attraction Quality Assurance Service accreditation.

The VAQAS (as it is better known) is a consumer-focused scheme that was first created by VisitBritain and is supported in our service area by Visit Chester & Cheshire - another valued client of LDSTS - to recognise British attractions which give visitors the highest quality experience. Each attraction is assessed by a sort of mystery shopper-type inspector and have their accreditations reviewed annually.

A collective pat on the back goes out from everyone at LDSTS to the management and staff at Blue Planet Aquarium!