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

The Changing Habits of Holidaymakers

May I take this opportunity to wish all our clients, readers and business associates a very happy and prosperous 2010!

There are currently mixed messages reaching members of the local tourism and hospitality industries. While a recent poll of 3,000 consumers by the travel site simonseeks.com found that the UK is still hailed as being the best-value holiday destination, the newly published ITB World Travel Trends Report showed that travel activity declined most in the UK (followed by Russia and Sweden) in the calendar year following the worldwide economic and financial crisis.

It would seem that last-minute bookings are at a record high and, according to Dr. Martin Buck at ITB organiser Messe Berlin, travellers are becoming an “increasingly indeterminable factor for holiday destinations, airlines, hotels, tour operators and travel agencies”. He goes on to say that “together with demographic shifts, changing lifestyles and technological progress, the recession is changing travel behaviour”.

We have certainly been aware of these changes for quite some time and have been able to modify our services accordingly by dropping several poorly performing (and overly expensive) sites last year in favour of better quality outlets - enabling LDS Tourism Services to offer superior display locations at very reasonable rates.

Despite these difficult times, we are doing a great deal to support our clients. As ever, we are able to offer both regional and national distribution; customers can opt to use our popular Network or General Distribution services; they may choose to be included in our high-footfall Exclusive establishments or perhaps decide to pick and choose from all three. In addition, we supply a range of complimentary brochure holders to tourism operators in North Wales, Cheshire, Merseyside, Greater Manchester, West Lancashire and Shropshire.

If you would like a quotation for leaflet/brochure distribution or social media marketing, simply drop us a line or ring 01244 671859 and we will create a unique and reasonably priced campaign to suit your particular requirements.

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Image: View down onto the beach, Llandudno ©Britainonview