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

Domestic tourism remains buoyant

No matter how gloomy the economic outlook may be for 2012, certain sectors of the British tourism industry show every sign of being in robust good health.

According to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics, visitor spending in the UK reached an all time high in August (up 3% on last year). Following record levels in June and July, there was a 4% increase (£0.4 billion) in earnings - a total of £11.65 billion to that point.

What’s more, research by the World Travel Market showed that domestic tourism is likely to enjoy another bumper year in 2012. The government's austerity measures, a weak pound, the increased cost of flying and cuts in earnings are deterring travellers from taking overseas holidays. Brits are ‘staycationing’ like never before. Indeed, VisitEngland has revealed that 70% of the population are planning a domestic break next year.

Some fascinating research commissioned by laterooms.com showed that two-thirds of Brits found regular short getaways far less stressful than infrequent long holidays. It would seem that 86% prefer taking weekends away throughout the year; sixty-six percent say battery-recharging breaks every three months or so are necessary to bring down their stress levels and 80% say that a short break with family or friends relaxes them more than regular massages or luxury spa treatments (not great news for larger hotels but promising for visitor attractions).

Another couple of interesting statistics to emerge recently were: British consumers are going out to eat and drink 12% more than six months ago (Taste of the Nation survey) and the number of international visitors to the UK is on the rise (VisitBritain).

Closer to home

In October, Chester Zoo celebrated record membership figures, with over 38,500 people enjoying discount in its shops and cafes, unlimited entry and invitations to special events. The world-famous zoo hopes its membership will be increased still further by people looking for alterative gifts this Christmas.

Our clients have been busily collecting awards in recent months. At the Marketing Cheshire Annual Awards’ ceremony, which took place in West Cheshire College, Chester Zoo won both Large Visitor Attraction of the Year and Best Tourism Event of the Year for its Dinosaurs at Large exhibition. Jodrell Bank Discovery Centre picked up the award for best Small Visitor Attraction as well as being Highly Commended for its Live Music Event in the Best Tourism Event of the Year category. At the Lancashire and Blackpool Tourism Awards, WWT MartinMere Wetland Centre won Best Visitor Experience for its new canoe safari development and, Marketing Manager, Victoria Fellowes walked away with the Making a Difference award for her contribution to tourism in the region.

As you know, we love to publicise local success stories – especially when LDS Tourism Services has played a part in the proceedings. We are therefore delighted to report that a record turnout of 6,000 residents and locals attended this year’s Frodsham Christmas Festival. The town Mayor, Andrew Dawson, told Chester Chronicle that he had never before seen “so many people in Frodsham at one time, let alone all gathering to have fun!”

Finally, if anyone else would like to take advantage of our Special Christmas Deal at Sandbach Motorway Services, you’ll need to get your skates on. Contact us A.S.A.P. to discuss your requirements.

Image: © Chester Zoo,  2011

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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UK Tourism Boosted by Sun & Slump!

Tourism operators in North Wales and North West England can take plenty of positives from the first major British holiday of the year. Blue skies and the current economic climate combined to give many attractions an excellent kick-start to the season – with most parts of the UK enjoying long periods of fine, dry weather over the Easter break. In addition to this, domestic rail bookings over Easter were up by more than 40% year-on-year with almost 45,000 people booking advance tickets for the Bank Holiday.

According to The Caravan Club, which owns and operates 200 sites across mainland Britain, bookings for 2009 are “already up by 40%”. Its network of parks across Wales was at 90% occupancy for the Easter holidays and the club’s spokesperson, Fiona Bewers, told BBC Online that the current trend seemed to be for “new families [to take] up caravanning as a fun option”.

The results of a new study by VisitEngland were released at the Best of Britain and Ireland trade show last month. They showed that “90% of the population is cutting back on its overall spend but the importance of holidays means that they are ‘more protected’ than other areas of expenditure.” The domestic tourism body also went on to reveal that one in five people who went abroad on holiday last year would consider switching to the UK in 2009 to save money.

Also of interest was a newly published study by Key Note, which has shown that foreign activity holidays are far more likely to be affected by the recession than other types of breaks. The market intelligence provider says that it is likely some travellers will economise by taking holidays in the UK rather than abroad this year and in 2010. A poll of 1,000 consumers for the report revealed that walking - including trekking – had emerged as the most popular activity with 14% of respondents indicating that they had taken a holiday of this kind in the UK. Nine per cent said that they had been on a multi-activity holiday in the UK, compared with six per cent who had taken this type of holiday abroad.

At LDS, we are busier than ever, with new clients joining us every week. If you would like to know more about our many cost-effective and frequently exclusive services, please don’t hesitate to contact us for further details.

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!