Tourism boosts the local economy

We may be in the throes of a double-dip recession, but tourism operators across the country will no doubt welcome the news that domestic trips and holidays have increased to record levels for the third consecutive year. Recent surveys have shown that domestic tourism has grown by 14%, expenditure on day trips is now almost £54 billion per annum and spending by tourists is at a record high of £125 billion.

There have been many encouraging reports from clients within our service area. For instance, Wirral tourism boosted Merseyside’s economy by £3 billion in 2011, mainly due to a string of high-profile events, and Wirral Borough Council say that the area is now very much on the map as a destination choice for affluent visitors.

According to Marketing Cheshire, tourism is now worth more than £2 billion to the Cheshire and Warrington economy and supports around 30,400 full time equivalent jobs. Recent figures have also revealed that more people are visiting Cheshire East - the value of tourism is up by 6% in the area and is worth around £578 million to the local economy.

The newly extended Clwydian Range Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty has brought a significant number of new visitors to rural North East Wales. A 230sq km (89sq mile) area of land in Wrexham and Denbighshire was designated part of the AONB following an order by the Countryside Council for Wales. It would seem that the total tourism revenue for Denbighshire alone is worth more than £91 million.

A fascinating visitor survey showed that tourists staying in North Wales rated the friendliness of its people the chief draw for their holiday or break in the region. Over 80% of UK and international visitors to the area had been before and ‘the environment’ was named as the biggest pull for day trippers, scoring over nine marks out of 10 on average in a scale of satisfaction.

There are plenty of reasons to feel positive, even during these difficult times. Here are just a few recent 'good news' stories concerning our clients and service areas: 

Ø  Liverpool’s World Museum has been shortlisted for a national award (the Museums and Heritage Awards for Excellence takes place on 16 May). 

Ø  Guest house owners in the borough of Conwy are reporting that bookings are up for 2012 and visitors are staying much longer.  

Ø  St Asaph has been granted city status, which has been bestowed by the Queen as part of her Diamond Jubilee celebrations. 

Finally, we have had a phenomenal response to our previous blog post about Waitrose. If you would like your literature displayed in this upmarket retail outlet (or in any of our exclusive sites), please drop us a line for further details.

Image: Daffodil, ©Copyright Free Photos 2012

A busy year ahead for UK tourism operators

Silly season is in full swing for LDS Tourism Services - the team is working flat-out accepting deliveries at the Border Distribution Centre and buzzing about the region ensuring our clients’ new leaflets are prominently displayed.

Around the UK as a whole, domestic tourism appears to be on the rise. Camping and caravanning breaks are more popular than ever (up 11% in 2011). According to Mintel, one in three residents report having been on a caravanning or camping break in the last three years, and Pitchup.com have revealed that there was a 50% increase in 'glamping' sites listed on their website in 2011. The latter also say that green campsites are among the most popular and, perhaps more surprisingly, there has been a sharp rise in the number of adult-only trips.

We’ve recently turned up several fascinating UK trends, which we felt were worth sharing with our readers:

Ø  Pet-friendly hotels saw a 132% rise in bookings in 2011 (LateRooms.com) 

Ø  The UK is the largest single source of over 55 year-old holidaymakers (World Travel Monitor) 

Ø  Over a third (39%) of people say access to Wi-Fi is a ‘deal-breaker’ when booking a hotel (Plusnet) 

Ø  The UK is now the third most admired tourist destination globally (Anholt-GFK Roper NBI) 

Brits are being urged to invite friends, relatives and past customers from around the world to visit the UK this year as part of VisitBritain’s 'GREAT Britain - You're Invited' marketing programme. Using the catchphrase ‘Share Your GREAT Britain’, the public, local communities and businesses across the country are being offered a free online toolkit that will allow them to personalise their greeting and invite their global network to the UK for their next holiday.

Finally, Tory MPs are calling for a UK Bank Holiday on 15th June 2015 to celebrate the 800th anniversary of the signing of the Magna Carta – the famous medieval document giving rights to the people. A bill has been proposed to replace the May Bank Holiday, which is already under discussion, with a day to celebrate the momentous occasion when King John met his barons in 1215 and sealed the Great Charter. Should the Magna Carta anniversary be a Bank Holiday? Please share your views and we’ll publish a selection of the most interesting submissions on this blog.

Image: Talacre Lighthouse, North Wales, ©CopyrightFreePhotos.com

Stats, Statements & Staycations!

We are extremely excited about 2010 - not least because we are working with several new partner companies in other parts of the UK. Next year, our clients will also benefit considerably from the many new high-footfall display sites (some of them exclusive to LDS) secured over the past few months.

As you all know, in addition to our long-established brochure marketing facilities, we now offer Social Media packages - however, we are also on the verge of announcing the launch of a brand new service that will propel LDS Tourism to the forefront of 21st century marketing techniques. All will be revealed very soon!

Continuing the theme of our last article, a recent poll by Which? Holiday has shown that one of the biggest complaints of holidaymakers is that visitor attractions are often overcrowded, badly managed or have long queues. The consumer study also showed airport congestion at the top of the list of frustrations experienced by travellers. Nevertheless, of the 5,003 consumers surveyed, more than half (53%) had no frustrations with any aspect of their holiday, and for those who holidayed in the UK, the satisfaction level increased by 60%.

Even more encouraging are reports from Hoseasons that advance bookings for 2010 are up 61% to 100,000, compared with the same period last year. The Company’s chief executive, Richard Carrick, commented last week that there has been “a seismic change in consumer behaviour, with people spending less and choosing to holiday in the UK”. Indeed, he says that next year, “Hoseasons will sell one million sports and activity holidays with 140 of its 440 holiday parks offering those types of breaks.”

VisitEngland has also published figures showing that domestic trips were up by 14 per cent, or 2.7m, for the first six months of 2009, compared with the same period last year.

Perhaps the UK ‘staycation’ really is here to stay!

A brief reminder to anyone with Christmas and/or New Year literature: your leaflets should be out there, on display, right now. Don’t miss out on promoting your festive event or offer by delaying distribution a moment longer!

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LDS Tourism Are Delighted to be Proved Right!

According to today's Daily Post:

Bumper summer for North Wales holiday resorts
"HOLIDAY parks and hotels are preparing for a record-breaking summer as tourists boycott foreign breaks in favour of UK destinations. Bookings are way up on previous years, according to travel operators across North Wales..."

Read the rest of the article by Martin Williams at: http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/2009/07/14/bumper-summer-for-north-wales-holiday-resorts-55578-24145038/

The Only Way is Up For Tourism in North West England

It has been all hands to the deck over the past couple of days with the monthly delivery of What’s On in Chester & Cheshire to hotels, attractions and other leisure facilities in the City and surrounding area. The glossy A4 magazine is a free guide to eating, drinking, shopping and entertainment in the area – although it will be downsizing to a “chic and petite publication” next month with a “dynamic and vibrant new look”. It is also getting a bigger print run because - according to editor, Gerald A. Tattum - Chester City Council, “just can’t keep pace with the demand” for this popular life-style guide.

According to Superbreak: “Figures show that provincial UK cities and resorts are performing well with bookings through agents in January up 14% year on year…” Indeed, the operator predicts that more than 65,000 people will book short breaks through agents for the two week Easter period and fully expects more people to holiday at home this Easter as apposed to visiting euro zone countries. In addition, Easter falls later this year giving spring a chance to set in properly, which could be excellent news for companies offering short breaks “within two and a half hours drive from home”. If so, this will no doubt have a very positive knock-on effect for tourism and leisure facilities throughout Britain.

One of our longest-standing clients, Chester Zoo has recently unveiled an ambitious £225 million plan that will see it transformed into the largest conservation, animal and leisure attraction of its kind in Europe. The project – given the working title Natural Vision – will involve a £90 million first phase which will include the only domed ecosystem in the UK. Called ‘Heart of Africa’, the bio-dome will be an African rainforest-themed sanctuary for a band of Gorillas, a large troop of chimpanzees, Okapi (rare giraffe-like creatures), and a wide variety of tropical birds, amphibians, reptiles, fishes and invertebrates, moving freely among lush vegetation. The first phase – planning permission for which will be sought later this year – will also include a 90-bed hotel, a Conservation College, a key element of which is the ‘Futures’ education centre, and a revamped main entrance linking to a marina development on zoo land beside the Shropshire Union Canal. All we can say is: “Way to go, Chester Zoo!”

A Happy New Year For UK Tourism?

We were delighted to read that, “demand for UK domestic holidays is up due to the weak pound, according to Hoseasons” (Weak pound boosts domestic market by Bev Fearis); and according to TravelMole: “As the pound continues to struggle against the euro, the self catering operator says its bookings for UK breaks in 2009 are up 20%.”

The Chief Executive of Hoseasons Holidays, Richard Carrick, has revealed that over the last few months they have seen, “an increasing appetite for holidays in Britain, as a strong euro and a desire to manage household budgets has meant that more and more holidaymakers look to stay in the UK in 2009.” He went on to say that Hoseasons were “benefiting from people who know that by taking a self-catering holiday they can manage and control their holiday budgets more tightly."

If Carrick is correct, this could mean that money spent by holidaymakers will help the wider British economy. Consequently, the Government is being encouraged to back UK tourism as the plunging value of the pound makes Britain a more affordable holiday destination for foreign visitors – indeed, the Tourism Alliance has gone so far as to describe the sudden change in the country’s competitive position as something of a “potential silver lining to the cloud of recession” for British businesses. They could well be right as the fall in the value of the pound against the euro and the dollar has created what is widely being hailed as an “unparalleled opportunity” for the UK tourism industry.

Moving on to a completely different topic, we are delighted to reveal that there are now 432 members of our Brochure Marketing group on LinkedIn. If you would like to join, simply follow this link and click the ‘Join Group’ button.

LDS Tourism Services will be closing its offices from 24th December 2008 until 5th January 2009 – although staff will continue to service key display sites throughout the festive season. However, it will still be possible to contact us by leaving messages on this blog.

May we take this opportunity to wish all our readers a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Some Good News For A Change!

The latest issue of our newsletter, Swift Flyer 3, is now available on our website at www.ldsts.co.uk/swift_flyer3.pdf. If you have problems viewing this document, please let us know and we will send you a hard copy via snail-mail.

We are all too aware that the current economic situation probably means that British (and foreign) holidaymakers are going to be more cost conscious than ever before – indeed, a new study by travelsupermarket.com has revealed that more than three quarters (77%) of people in the UK believe the price of their holiday is the most important factor in deciding where to go next year.

However, the news isn’t all bad. According to a recent study by PKF Hotel Consultancy Services, the UK hotel industry is still “holding its own” despite a “slow” month in October, and the fall in growth rate has been “fairly moderate”. More interestingly, new research has shown that “holidaymakers are planning a return to happy, nostalgic memories of their childhood breaks to get them through the hard times”. The poll of more than 2,000 people found that “in credit crunch Britain, a new generation has rekindled its love affair with the caravan. Rather than jet off abroad, almost two in ten (27%) of parents intend to take their children on a drive down memory lane inspired by their own childhood caravan holiday”.

The survey (commissioned by Towergate Bakers Insurance) revealed that the ‘Top 5 Nostalgia’ family holidays in the year ahead would be:

1. Holidays on the British coast (49%)

2. Country cottage holidays in the UK (29%)

3. Caravan holidays (27%)

4. Camping (20%)

5. Barge (9%)

This could potentially be very positive news indeed for small businesses in Britain and (fingers crossed) despite all the present talk of financial gloom and doom, 2009 may yet turn out to be a good year for tourism in North Wales and the North West.

Midsummer Madness for LDS Tourism Services

It may be mid-summer but we’re busier than ever. There has been a massive increase in the leaflet pick-up rate this year, so we’ve got our work cut out trying to keep our stands topped-up and tidy!

One wonders why this is happening when the economy is supposed to be in so much trouble. One reason could be that a great many Brits are opting to stay on home soil this summer. Indeed, TravelMole is reporting that Britain is the top holiday destination for more than three quarters of UK internet users – that’s 21 million adults! It would seem that data produced by the research firm, Continental Research has revealed that over 40% of respondents are fed up with air travel, 37% believe it is kinder to the environment to stay in the UK and 44% worry less if they fall ill. Amongst the 58% of internet users taking a paid-for short break in 2008, the survey showed that the UK dominates the destinations visited, with many people mentioning the great scenery (56%) and no language barrier (47%) as two of the main reasons. This has to be very positive news indeed for the local tourist and leisure industries.

Believe it or not, Chester Zoo has started planning for its Frost Festival! The 110-acre attraction received a visit from Father Christmas last week and it is currently seeking sponsors for the extravaganza, which will open to the public on 29th November. A range of benefits are offered to sponsors including free tickets, PR coverage and exclusive company use of the ice rink. For further information, please contact Michelle Duma on 01244 650265 or drop her a line at development@chesterzoo.org.

We’ll finish with a couple of interesting links we came across recently:

Fuel Prices Hit Leaflet Distribution Nationwide
http://www.mailboxnationwide.com/blog/fuel-prices-hit-leaflet-distribution-nationwide/185

Printed page – and beyond

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/ew/2008/04/28/stories/2008042850110300.htm

“Bumper Year” Predicted For Domestic Tourism

According to TravelMole – the online community for the travel and tourism industry – a "bumper" 2008 for the UK travel industry has been predicted.

It would seem that more people are deciding to take domestic holidays this year, and it is being attributed to “concerns by holidaymakers over their carbon footprint, the negative economic effects of the global credit squeeze and more recent publicity regarding the weakness of the pound against the euro making travel to the continent more expensive for British travellers”.

Apparently, self catering is “the number one option for a great number of families taking a break in Great Britain”, which is why companies like Hoseasons are bucking the trend and offering “unique discounts, such as those for single parent families, aimed to make it easier and more appealing for Brits to take a holiday at home”.

So (fingers crossed), it could be an excellent year for the local tourist & leisure industry!

We’ve also come across a couple interesting articles on the web this month. We thought you may like to read them, too:

A Quick Guide to Tourism Brochure & Tourism Leaflet Design
By wpdevil
Distribution via brochure rack? Remember that in most cases only the top 1/3 of the brochure will show. Distributed by a third party? Your brochure can easily get lost in a “sea of brochures” if you are not careful...

Finding a Brochure Printing Company
By mollie
Most brochure printing companies will provide an experienced estimator who will help you to determine the proper paper, inks, coatings, bindery and distribution for your brochure project. It is worth it to check to see if this service...