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Source: Visit Britain( International Passenger Survey, UK Tourism Survey) Cumbria Tourism (Occupancy Survey, Business Survey)

Staycation or Go Abroad?

There are signs that Britons are going further for their holidays. Five different destinations have announced that visitor figures from the UK are up.

Costa Rica has announced that travellers from the UK are up 27%
British visitors to Kenya are up by 13%
Further away is Fiji, not an easy place to get to from here unless you change in Australia, New Zealand or somewhere in the Far East but visitors are up by 10%. Are we becoming more adventurous?
British visitors for the first quarter of the year to Las Vegas are up 40%
Before the drug related violence, British visitors to Jamaica were up by nearly 10%

This seems to be more evidence of our determination to take a holiday. For many of us, it has become a necessary part of life rather than an option. A survey for Lonely Planet seemed to show that many of us were willing to go into debt or even further debt in order that we could have a holiday. But if the number of us taking staycations is likely to be up and the number taking long haul holidays is up, either more of us are holidaying or taking second and third holidays, or some places are going to show fewer visitors. Surely it is more likely that some places will miss out, but where are we not going to?

Turkey, Egypt, Tunisia have been recent draws for us and must continue given the value for money they offer. Spain, which has seen declining British visitors in the last couple of years, must attract more people this year since the euro has weakened against the pound.

Source: June 2010 CD-Traveller.com

Falling Euro means it costs more to holiday at home than abroad
The cost of holidays to Europe has fallen dramatically as the pound fights back against the weak euro. Costs have also tumbled even further as struggling foreign countries slash prices to attract tourists. The deals mean that in many cases it would cost British families more to holiday in the UK than to go abroad. Costs have fallen most dramatically in Portugal where a holiday is now 35% cheaper than 2009. Meanwhile, a holiday in Greece will cost around 20% less as the credit-hit country offer bargains. A study for the News of the World compared the cost of holiday essentials in European countries.

"The Budget was very well received by the market and this had a positive effect on the pound gaining against the euro."

  Mike Hood, Account Executive at KBR Foreign Exchange

Source: July 2010 NewsOfTheWorld

Tourism revenue has potential to grow by more than 60%, if challenges are met
The new report, published by Deloitte and Oxford Economics undertaken on behalf of VisitBritain, calculates that the total economic contribution that home and overseas visitors make to the UK is currently £115 billion a year. It predicts that if all goes well the figure is set to rise to £188 billion a year in 2020, an increase of more than 60%.

The in-depth study evaluates the importance of tourism to the economy of the UK and each constituent nation, providing key current metrics and forecasts for 2020. It predicts spending by overseas visitors will almost double from £16 billion now to £31 billion in 2020. These figures make tourism Britain’s fifth biggest industry and third largest foreign exchange earner.

It warns that Government intervention will be the key to success because a range of market failures need to be tackled.

These include co-ordinating marketing to help small and medium sized tourist businesses who cannot afford to do it themselves, enabling rural firms who face higher costs of operating to adopt innovative technology, and supporting the many districts across the UK that rely disproportionately on tourism as an important source of jobs for entry-level and part-time workers.

The industry also needs help to improve its ability to predict what facilities will be needed for the tourists that are likely to turn up, to ensure the modernisation of hotels and venues is done in a way that retains their original appeal and authenticity and to adapt more swiftly to new trends such as the growth in older 'grey pound' tourists.

Source: June 2010 VisitBritain Deloitte Report 'The Economic Contribution of the Visitor Economy'

UKinbound slams 'fantasy' forecast for UK tourism

A leading UK tourism body has poured scorn on the rosy picture of the future of the sector set out in a report commissioned by VisitBritain. UKinbound challenged the report’s key claim that tourism revenue would grow by more than 60% by 2020, describing the forecast as “fantasy”. It said the report ignored the real threats which are causing decline not growth in visitor numbers.

The organisation, which represents inbound travel companies, said current trends and feedback fly in the face of this optimism. It claimed visitor numbers have declined year on year since 2007 when Air Passenger Duty was significantly increased, adding up to a reduction of 8% in visitor numbers over this period.

“In more recent times when a weak pound should have seen greater increase in visitors we are still experiencing a 3% decline so far in 2010,” 

“This current downward trend in visitor numbers has occurred with the current levels of APD and VAT, both of which are due to rise, which will result in a greater reduction in visitors to the UK.”

Long haul visitors are also being prevented or deterred from travelling to the UK by strict and overly complicated visa process, according to UKinbound. With Heathrow operating at 99% capacity, it is difficult to see how such a big increase in tourism revenue can be achieved, UKinbound argued. It called for “honest engagement” with the coalition government “to free us from the restraints that are restricting the reversal of this decline”.

UKinbound warned of a decline in visitors to the UK in 2012 based on the experience of other Olympic host nations.

“We do not dispute the real potential for substantial growth in inbound tourism but this potential will pale into insignificance if there are no plans to increase capacity and to address urgently the real barriers to growth.

“With no plans to increase capacity at Heathrow or any other London airport and in the absence of a strategy to restore the competitiveness of the UK as a destination by addressing the barriers to growth, it is fantasy to suggest that such huge growth is attainable.”

Source: July 2010 TravleWeekly.co.uk

Call for a tourism minister 'partly successful'
Travel industry demands for a dedicated tourism minister were partially successful, according to the new tourism minister himself. John Penrose said progress had been made and that he “absolutely” had more focus on the sector than his predecessor.

“When was the last time we even had a minister with the word ‘tourism’ in the title? I come from a seaside town so tourism really is in the marrow of my bones.”

John Penrose, MP for Weston=super-Mare and Minister for Tourism & Heritage

ABTA, The Travel Association,  recognised this as a step in the right direction, however there was still work to be done.

“There are so many different government departments which have a hand in travel. The next step is to have someone who pulls together all these different threads.”

Mark Tanzer, Chief Executive of ABTA

June 2010 TravelWeekly.com

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Future of the Staycation
In 2009, the economic downturn and weaker pound together drove an increase in domestic tourism, resulting in an uplift of 18% in the number of holiday trips taken in England - the so-called "staycation."

VisitEngland carried out research in February-April 2010 to understand more about the motivations for last year's change in behaviour, and to explore how the 2009 experience has influenced perceptions of domestic holidays - and therefore what this is likely to mean for holiday decisions in 2010 and beyond.

The research identified two types of staycationers who changed their behaviour in 2009, together making up 25% of the population:

13% Switchers – “I had to go on holiday in this country because money was well short”
Replaced a foreign holiday with one at home (22% of 8+ night breaks switched)
High proportion of families
More worried about job security and credit crunch
Main motivations were financial situation and exchange rate

15% Extras – “I went on so many holidays last year … here as well as abroad … it was great”
Took more domestic breaks –but not as substitute for others –also more foreign hols
Younger profile
Less affected by credit crunch than average
Main motivations were exploring / going somewhere new


The 2009 Experience - Overall
The experience of holidaying at home was an overwhelmingly positive one – 86% of staycationers described their holiday as “excellent” or “good.” Visitors talked about how fun and engaging domestic breaks were, enabling families to spend time together and bond in a way that didn’t happen on an overseas beach break.

Many were also pleasantly surprised by how much they enjoyed their break (especially those who had started by feeling that they were making a sacrifice) and over half of all staycationers said that their break was better than they expected.

It is clear that a break in England is very different to the usual foreign holiday, and while many experienced this as something positive, those who had tried to replicate a traditional sun and sand holiday with an English equivalent were often disappointed, feeling that they couldn’t relax in less-than-perfect weather, and sometimes struggled to find things to do (in contrast to package holidays where activities are laid on).

The 2009 Experience - Value
80% of staycationers described their break as good value, and over half said that it was better value than the overseas holiday it replaced – yet there remains a consensus that England is “not cheap.” Rather, it was chosen as a money-saving option in 2009 in part because the exchange rate makes previously low cost European destinations closer in price to the UK, and at the same time, it is much easier to budget and control spending at home than when using a foreign currency in a less familiar country. Ever increasing flight prices also make domestic breaks seem relatively better value than in recent years.

The 2009 Experience - Weather
Despite press coverage to the contrary, only 10% described their holiday weather as “poor” – the remainder saying that it had been good (39%) or mixed (50%). While those with good weather had enjoyed their breaks the most (90% describing them as excellent or very good), even among those unlucky enough to have poor weather almost three quarters were positive about their holiday experience. In general, people are fairly pragmatic about the weather, and finding activities for one or two rainy days can be part of the fun, though continuous bad weather will spoil the holiday.


Future Intentions
Respondents were optimistic about their plans for 2010, with more expecting to take holidays of all types this year than had taken them in 2009. There may well be a degree of wishful thinking in these responses, though the fact that the greatest uplift (from 56% in 2009 to 67% in 2010) was in overseas breaks suggest that some people really are planning to revert to foreign holidays this year. Nonetheless, 90% of staycationers expect to take at least one England break in 2010 – the 2009 experience has improved opinions of holidaying at home for many, and left them keen to discover more, though this may mean taking shorter breaks rather than a longer holiday.

The continued impact of the recession means that some will have to take domestic breaks again in 2010 for financial reasons, but there are signs that a more permanent shift in attitudes is starting to happen, with almost half the population (and 70% of staycationers) expecting that beyond 2010 they will take more holidays in the UK than they have in the past.

Source: June 2010 VisitEngland 'Future of the Staycation'

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Trade accused of 'lacklustre' response to APD
The Caribbean Tourism Organisation is preparing to challenge the UK government over Air Passenger Duty as the UK trade stood accused of a lightweight response to “potentially devastating” increases in the tax.

Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne alarmed the industry on the 22nd June when he failed to address APD in the budget, meaning November’s planned rise will go ahead, but he pledged to continue consulting on changes in aviation tax.

In response, the CTO is considering a legal challenge against the British government over the continuation of APD. It argues it is a tax on one of the Caribbean’s key exports due to the region’s dependence on tourism.

Richard Carrick, the former Hoseasons chief executive, was scathing about the industry’s response. He said: “Any other industry would have its top leaders of its biggest companies ranting about the injustice and potentially devastating effects of these proposed increases on our industry rather than relying on the lacklustre responses of individuals and organisations that do not operate at the sharp end and don’t have the weight of authority that key business leaders do.

“Yet again, we are perceived as a soft touch, an easy option for government to raise money on the back of spurious rationale by just lying down and letting them take liberties with one of the UK’s most successful industries.”

Richard Carrick, the former Hoseasons chief executive

APD aside, the budget has caused few ripples in the industry. White Hart Associates partner Chris Photi said the increase in Capital Gains Tax to 28% would have little effect on travel business owners trying to sell their businesses as it would be offset by the increase in Entrepreneur’s Relief from £2 million to £5 million.

Small and medium-sized companies will benefit from tax and National Insurance cuts and exemptions, in particular a drop in the small business corporation tax rate to 20% next year.

The increase in VAT from 17.5% to 20% from January 4, 2011, will see holiday prices rise marginally, while a reversal of the decision to repeal the Furnished Holiday Lettings tax exemptions should give the domestic sector a boost.

Source: June 2010 TravelWeekly.co.uk

Center Parcs to build luxury treehouse accommodation

Source: June 2010 TravelWeekly.co.uk

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Helping Hotels Harness Social Media

Online reviews are now the most critical measure of guest satisfaction and the top factor influencing where travelers decide to stay, according to Revinate. Launched in March 2010, Revinate provides a hotel-specific Social Media Scorecard service that aims to bring structure, performance tracking and actionable guidance to that never-ending stream of social media.

The scorecard collects every review, news story, blog post, photo, video and social media mention of its client hotels and presents them in a single intuitive dashboard that's accessible online. Revinate can also do the same for competitors' reviews and social media activity, giving clients new competitive insight into their relative strengths and weaknesses.

The tools and reports include a detailed guest satisfaction report, tracking key performance metrics and competitive benchmarks. Revinate also makes it easy for hotels to join the conversation by responding to reviews and communicating with consumers via social media.
 

Read More >

More Purchase-sharing in Real Time
Currently in invitation-only beta, Swipely aims to “turn purchases into conversations”. Swipely has developed a secure platform for consumers to share their purchase experiences online. Users begin by signing up and importing purchases from their credit or debit card accounts. For the purchases a user decides to share they can rate the experience and add comments or photos. Many purchases are automatically geolocated to specific store locations.

The result, it says, is that users can start conversations around “specific outfits, meals, songs, movies, gadgets and millions of other products.” Upon seeing a compelling new purchase, other users can click to see the venue on the map and add the item to their own wish list.

Put this sort of technology in the context of marketing a visitor economy and the sorts of products and services that could take advantage of this social shopping includes local products, accommodation providers, visitor attractions, and outdoor activities, the list goes on…

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RFID tags used to attach stories
RememberMe is a collaborative project between TOTeM (Tales of Things and Electronic Memory) and Oxfam which infused personal history into donated items by enabling people to attach stories to them using RFID tags.

People donating items at an Oxfam store in Manchester were asked to tell a story about the object into a microphone, including when and where they acquired it and any personal stories associated with it. The audio clips were linked to an RFID tag and QR code and items tagged with a story were added to the shop's stock as part of the in-store exhibition. Visitors to the shop used their own smart phone or a bespoke RFID reader to listen to the stories through speakers in the shop, and were invited to purchase the story-tagged objects.

Beyond the Oxfam project, TOTeM’s free iPhone app gives purchasers anytime access to attached stories, and can also be used to scan, comment and add location to things in the wild. Consumers can also tag their own items at the TOTeM website, linking any object to a snippet of video, audio or text describing its history via printable QR code tags.

Put into a tourism environment this RFID technology could help turn the whole national park into a real-time tourist information centre. Imagine walking into Bowness and listening to what’s available within a 2 minute walk, or hiking to the top of Helvellyn with a guided tour of the view at the peak.

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Source: Springwise

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