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October
2009
Welcome to the
October 09
issue of the Research Team's newsletter. We
have summarised in one place all the relevant
statistics, trends and tourism insights that we
monitor, research and analyse. If you have missed
the other issues of TourismTrendSpotter please
click
here to view them. We would welcome any
feedback you might have so that we can develop
this newsletter into a communication you will use
and value.
Best wishes,
Main
Sections:
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Tourism Stats
Monitor
During the first six
months of the year 'pure' holiday trips outperformed
the market (+14% in the UK and in England). Growth
has come from both short breaks (1-3 nights) and
longer holidays (4+nights) during the first half of
the year. Business visits and VFR (visiting friends
and relatives) were down by -9% and -6% respectively
in the same period. Differences were also apparent
by accommodation type with trips using self-catering
rented accommodation up by 21% during the first half
of the year - included within this camping and
caravanning trips increased by 18%.
In the month of June, domestic tourism
trips in the UK were virtually unchanged compared to June 2008,
while spend rose by 3% (the first monthly increase since September
2008). Nights fell (-4%) due to shorter average trip length.
The number of
overseas residents visiting the UK in July 2009 was down 7% compared
with July 2008. Spend from overseas visitors in July this year was
8% lower than the same month last year in nominal terms, despite
most visitors' currencies still going
further.
New
Interactive Dashboard
To explore the
dashboard click on the buttons
*VFR = visiting friends and
relatives
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Tourism News
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'Staycation'
holidays soar 14% amid downturn
The number of Britons holidaying at
home, or taking a 'staycation', as it has
been labelled, has risen 14% year-on-year in
the first half of 2009 with Bournemouth the
favourite destination of holidaymakers.
Brits took 2.6million more trips and spent
9.1 million extra nights away from home
between January and June compared to the
same period in 2008.
"England is
back in fashion as Brits are rediscovering
the diversity and appeal of the English
holiday. It's a trend that we've seen
developing over the course of the last few
years and one which we intend to nurture
with the help of the tourism industry."
James Berresford, Chief Executive of
VisitEngland
Source:
8 October 2009
TheIndependent.co.ukl
BAA passenger numbers down 2.6% in September
2009
The number of people going through BAA's
terminals fell 2.6% in September 2009 while
the number of flights dropped by 5%. The
biggest slump, a fall of 12% year-on-year,
was at Stansted, London's third airport. At
Heathrow, where British Airways has been
leading a campaign to build a third runway,
passenger numbers fell 0.3% in September
2009 and off 2.6% over the past 12 months at
65 million.
Source:
9 October 2009
This is London
'Weak
sterling boosted travel to UK'
The weak pound was responsible for more
than 160,000 additional bookings for travel
to the UK this year, according to
VisitBritain.
"VisitBritain tapped into great exchange
rates with tactical value campaigns that led
to more than 160,000 additional bookings for
travel to Britain this year, more than £1
billion of media coverage and more than 26
million visits to visitbritain.com.”
Sandie Dawe, VisitBritain Chief Executive
Source:
Travel Trade Gazette September 2009
Expenditure
on holidays takes a nosedive
Nearly three quarters of the UK
population (73%) are reducing spend on their
holidays this year, far more than recent
research has suggested, says a new report
from travel specialist Arkenford.
It was also revealed that only 11% of
accommodation and travel is now booked
through third party web sites (less than the
14 -15% booked via travel agents).
"These figures are a reflection of the
times – people are downsizing and also
becoming increasingly independent – and will
be food for thought for many operators."
Ben Moxon, Director of Arkenford
On the up side Travel Navigator reveals that
73% of holiday makers say that the UK looks
like a good holiday option this year. Short
breaks are set to benefit, with 20% planning
to book more short breaks at home than last
year.
Other headline findings from Travel
Navigator:
 Contrary
to popular reporting, forty five percent of
those interviewed disagreed that ‘their main
holiday is one of the last things they would
cut back on’.
13
UK destinations (including Skegness) feature
on the top 20 places people have actually
booked to go.
Over
90% of people have booked their
accommodation in advance and over 50% of
these bookings are made online and bought
directly from the provider.
Recommendations
from friends are the most important source
of information for UK trips and printed
brochures for overseas trips.
Source:
Arkenford’s Travel Navigator June 2009
(n=1600 survey of UK residents)
Hospitality
industry more resilient than expected, says
BHA annual report
The hospitality industry has proved to
be resilient through the recession, with far
fewer casualties than anticipated, according
to the 2009 British Hospitality Association
(BHA) annual report, released this week.
While hotel and restaurant insolvencies are
running at a higher level than in previous
years, quick action by operators to cut
costs and to boost occupancy and footfall by
providing special offers has enabled the
vast majority to weather the storm, even if
at reduced levels of profitability, the
report says.
“Almost every establishment that has gone
into insolvency has re-opened under new
ownership” Bob Cotton, BHA Chief
Executive.
The appetite for expansion in the hotel
industry has also been undiminished by the
recession, the report says, with more than
11,000 rooms opening in 2009 and a further
40,000 planned for the period 2010-2015.
The budget hotel sector, with nearly 6,000
rooms opening in 2009, is the biggest
beneficiary of this boom. In 2001, there
were 50,000 budget rooms, a figure which has
risen to 105,000 in 2009.
“Budget hotels are clearly responding to
consumer demand by introducing less
expensive but high value rooms that are
attractive to both the business and leisure
market,” said Cotton. “Their
occupancies suggest that they fill a big gap
in the market.”
Source: 12 October 2009
Catererseatch.com
Brits love
the 10-day break
TUI, the owner of Thomson and First
Choice, has reported a 64% rise in sales for
10-day breaks, highlighting a trend of
holidaymakers seeking to get time to see the
sights without taking too much time off
work.
Source: 12 October 2009
DailyTelegraph.co.uk
Package
holiday prices to rise in 2010
According to travel industry magazine Travel
Trade Gazette, the price of package holidays
is expected to rise in 2010 despite the
recession. The average price of holidays
increased by £26 to £564 in summer 2009 - as
the price war that had been expected failed
to materialise and travel agents cut the
number of cheap deals on offer. However,
slackening demand as well as the simple fact
that the industry simply cannot sustain its
current size means prices will have to go up
and weaker operators will go to the wall.
Overall, leisure travel was down 11% during
summer 2009, and there are fears that 2010
will be no better, with the likelihood that
bookings will be affected by supporters
being glued to the television as England
compete in the World Cup in South Africa.
Source: 12 October 2009
DailyMail.co.uk
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SPECIAL FEATURE: The case for
Tourism in a Recession
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Impact of the Recession on the Industry
For a relatively small country, the UK has a
tourism industry that consistently ranks
among the world’s top ten. However figures
for 2007 show that growth is slowing
considerably. Over the present and
forthcoming years the sheer size of tourism
in the UK is and will still be formidable,
but the slowdown does represent a ‘squeeze’.
In such a competitive environment, this will
have implications for UK tourism businesses
of all sizes. The key factors affecting the
downturn in UK tourism are the credit crunch
and a weakened Dollar, constraints on time
resulting in fewer overnight trips in the
domestic market, the expense of visiting the
UK, and competition from emerging long-haul
and comparable lower-cost markets.
Source:
Source: Mintel ‘Travel and Tourism - UK -
May 2008’
In 2008, inbound tourism to Britain was a
game of two halves. The first eight months
of the year saw a 2% increase in visits with
a 6% rise in spending. However, the impact
of the credit crunch had a devastating
effect on the visitor economy. From
September to December, overseas visits were
down by 12% and spending fell by 4% compared
to the same period in 2007.
Source:
VisitBritain ‘Annual Report 2008/09’
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Increasing Competition
Britain faces more competition from more
countries than ever before. While Britain
currently continues to perform well, it is
vulnerable in key areas of tourism
competitiveness.
The World Economic Forum (WEF) in
association with the World Travel and
Tourism Council (WTTC) has begun to assess
the competitiveness of countries as tourism
destinations. Britain performs strongly
overall – being rated sixth out of 130
nations – despite receiving low ratings in a
number of important areas. It is rated
fourth in the world for its cultural assets,
as well as for its air infrastructure.
Britain comes 90th in the world, however, in
terms of ‘affinity for tourism’, and 127th
in terms of price competitiveness.
A major market failure in the visitor
economy is the lack of larger scale and
coordinated marketing. Due to the fragmented
nature of the industry, individual
businesses or a group of businesses are
unlikely to market a place (country, city or
region) to international or domestic
markets. In addition, many tourism providers
perceive themselves as being in direct
competition with their immediate neighbour,
rather than with other destinations and
products.
Source:
British Tourism Framework Review January
2009
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Re-prioritise Tourism as a sector to help
economic recovery
“Despite current economic woes, tourism
is one of the few industries that could show
growth with a real opportunity to grow to a
£133 billion industry by 2018”.
Christopher Rodrigues, VisitBritain Chairman
The British Tourism Framework Review:
makes
it clear that the visitor economy is an even
more significant part of the UK economy than
had previously been estimated
reveals
the high number of new business start-ups in
tourism and how tourism plays a vital role
both in regeneration and in the rural
economy
highlights
the significant multiplier effect tourism
has on other parts of the British economy
identifies
the many areas in which the visitor economy
improves the quality of life for UK
residents
makes
it clear that, if the industry is to reach
its full potential, government must play an
active enabling role because of the
fragmentation of the industry.
“Tourism Matters. It is a major source of
jobs and wealth creation across Great
Britain – but in many ways it is a forgotten
industry, and one that features all too
seldom in the political or economic debate.”
Richard Lambert, Director General, CBI
Source:
British Tourism Framework Review January
2009
"Tourism and travel mean jobs,
infrastructure, trade and development; these
are the issues that world leaders are
emphasising in coordinated recovery actions.
What we need is recognition of the value of
travel in this mix and most importantly its
capacity to generate jobs." Taleb Rifai,
UNWTO Secretary-General ad interim
Source:
TravelBite.co.uk ‘Can Tourism Play A
Recovery Roll’ April 2009
“Because tourism is a labour intensive
industry and because it buys many goods and
services from other parts of the economy,
the impact of tourism goes well beyond the
spending of inbound and domestic visitors.”
Christopher Rodrigues CBE, Chairman of
VisitBritain
Tourism contributes £114 billion (8.2%) to
the UK’s GDP. Of this amount, domestic
visitors spend £66 billion, with
international visitors contributing £20
billion and the industry £28 billion. It
also supports 2.6 million jobs and over
200,000 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
This vibrant industry rewards public sector
investment. The large number of tourism
related SMEs ensure that there are plenty of
entry-level jobs in the marketplace that are
accessible to all. It also offers
significant economic return on investment
with a national reach that is not restricted
to one particular area or region of the
country. This, in turn, enables the public
sector to capitalise on regeneration
investments and contributes towards the real
appreciation of Britain’s assets globally
and domestically. Finally, the tourism
industry’s ability to deliver rapid
employment and economic returns makes it a
vital prop in sustaining Britain’s economy
in turbulent times.
Source:
VisitBritain ‘Annual Report 2008/09’
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Consumer Trends
Short lead
in time
Low consumer confidence and security
will have a major constraint on current
expenditure (and to an extent, planned
expenditure) for many people and will
therefore delay expenditure on items such as
holidays. This is reflected in the widely
reported growth of late bookings with
approximately 50% of all bookings being made
online.
Source:
Arkenford’s Travel Navigator June 2009
(n=1600 survey of UK residents)
Online
travel sector must work harder to compete
for customer loyalty
A recent eTravel Benchmark indicates
online travel sites need to look beyond the
'wow' factor and work harder at improving
the entire end to end website experience if
they are to build trusted, long term
relationships that encourage customers to
buy from them time and time again.
Travel consumers have never had so much
choice and are increasingly comfortable in a
multi channel environment and will ‘bounce’
between the high street, online and
telephone.
Being
unable to make telephone contact and
conflicting information between channels is
a source of dissatisfaction.
Over
90% of travel consumers surveyed complete
their initial travel research online
Online
is the preferred method of both researching
and booking travel for the majority, while
some customer groups are returning to the
high street
Source:
28 July 2009
www.eDigitalResearch.com
TripAdvisor
influences corporate decisions on hotel
choice
According to a BDRC survey of 1,000 business
travellers, TripAdvisor and similar review
websites now influence corporate decisions
on hotels to the tune of £500 million a
year. 28% actively seek advice on websites
featuring consumer reviews; 46% are
influenced in their hotel selection by
consumer reviews, and 41% decide to change
their original hotel choice after reading
about other travellers´ experiences.
The influence
of word of mouth recommendations - both on-
and off-line - outweighs the star ratings
offered by the RAC and AA and official
ratings and advice from holiday agents. With
40% of respondents citing them as "very
reliable", personal recommendations were the
most trusted source of information, followed
by information supplied by the company
business travellers were visiting (33%). 23%
of business travellers place their faith in
reviews by total strangers on sites such as
TripAdvisor. Just 13% believe that others´
opinions on user review sites are
"unreliable", compared to just 4.5% who
remain sceptical about personal
recommendations.
Source: 12 October 2009
DailyMail.co.uk
The growing role of social media in your
marketing mix
Growing use of user generated content:
81%
of online holiday shoppers read online customer
reviews (source: Nielson Online, December 2008)
The
‘Trust in Advertising’ survey of 26,000+ found that
Consumer Recommendations are the most credible form
of advertising. (source: Social Media Marketing: The
Right Strategy for Tough Economic Times Awareness,
2008)
Nearly
49% of shoppers have made a purchase based on a
recommendation through a social media. Respondents
most relied on the following sources when making a
purchase decision: (source: Razorfish, October 2008)
60.53%
user reviews
20.48%
comparison charts
15.41%
editorial reviews
3.58
shared shopping lists
Perspectives from marketers:
79%
of online UK retailers surveyed reported that the
main benefit of sonsumer-generated rating and
reviews was that they improved site conversion
rates. (source: eMarketer, 2007)
68%
of online marketers believe "media is in big trouble
and will lose dollars to user-generated content."
(source: iMedia Connection, February 2008)
81%
of marketers surveyed say that their social media
spending will meet or exceed their traditional
advertising spending within the next 5 years.
(source: TWI Surveys/Society for New Communications
Research, November 2007)
Source:
www.bazaarvoice.co.uk
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Market
Trends
Using technology to
reach potential visitors
VisitBritain’s online marketing strategy saw it make
full use of the latest trends in mobile, internet
and social networking technologies.
“We developed three major global collaborations
that embraced the internet. Our partnerships with
Google and Yahoo! saw us make great use of Google’s
Street View and Yahoo! Travel’s platforms, extending
the reach of our content and the Britain brand. To
add to this, our partnership with mobiEXPLORE
encouraged mobile phone users to download a free
application that gave them unique access to a UK
travel guide and VisitBritain’s quality assessed
attraction and accommodation listings. Our recent
presence on Twitter is another prong in our strategy
to ensure Britain is as accessible as possible on
popular websites.” Cutting Edge Online
Partnerships, VisitBritain Annual Report 2008/09
Google
Street View – using visual guides (maplets) of
some of the UK’s major cities users can explore and
experience each destination at street level.
mobiExplore
– users can access a comprehensive UK travel guide
from their mobile phones. Street maps, tube maps,
and the latest ‘what’s on’ listings combined with
direct access to the VisitBritain assessed
attractions and accommodation provider database.
Yahoo!
Travel – VisitBritian were able to reach Yahoo!
Travel users before they booked their holidays,
providing the opportunity to influence the
individual’s destination of choice.
Twitter
– VisitBritain updates Twitter up to five times
a day with short, snappy and informative content
updates and travel suggestions.
Source:
VisitBritain ‘Annual Report 2008/09’
Getting closer to your customers – they’re ready,
are you?
Consumers
say not being able to speak to anyone to answer
questions is their number one frustration with
online shopping (source: Opinion Research Point,
April 2009)
Online
businesses lose as many as 67% of consumers due to a
lack of online product information. (source:
Allurent, January 2008)
83%
of online shoppers would make purchases if sites
offered increased interactive elements. (source:
Allurent, January 2008)
90%
of UK shoppers surveyed said they wish they could
communicate directly with businesses - using live
chat, forums or call-me-back facilities - via their
websites; one in three require it from the UK
businesses they currently use. (source: 1&1, October
2007)
Source:
www.bazaarvoice.co.uk
The mobile medium
has arrived
The Mobile used to be just a ‘voice communication’
tool but now it provides communication not only
through voice but through SMS, email, Bluetooth,
instant messaging and WAP, and connectivity to Data
(Web access on mobile, bespoke Mobile information
pages).
3.3
billion people actively use SMS, which is over twice
as many as the 1.4 billion people that use the
Internet
2.5
times as many people send a text than send an email
700
million people use Instant Messenger for free, while
3.3 billion happily pay to send a text message
1.7
billion people have a credit card, while 3.3 billion
people can pay by SMS
Tourism businesses can look at the various stages of
the travel value chain, from pre booking to during
the holiday to after the visit, for identifying
opportunities to enhance business through mobile
technology. The business objectives of using mobile
technology should include:
Generate
Revenues – either directly from the information
provided or through ancillary sales.
Reduce
Costs – delivering information ‘proactively’ to
customers can reduce operational costs
significantly.
Enhance
Service – differentiate your company and increase
customer service at a reduced cost.
Source:
Travel Buddy ‘Mobile in Travel 2009’
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SPECIAL FEATURE: Sustainable Tourism
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Can
tourism play a recovery role?
Transformation to a green economy – The
UNWTO stressed that the tourism and travel
sector can be a leader in the transformation
to a new green economy, with investment in
green infrastructure such as airports, high
speed rail, roads and ports.
"Investment in Green Tourism – climate
proofing hotels, clean biofuels for
transport & widespread education/training
programmes will pay massive dividends and
send positive signals to consumers around
the world." Geoffrey Lipman, UNWTO
Assistant Secretary-General
Source:
TravelBite.co.uk April 2009 |
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Hospitality sector shuns cost of ‘going
green’
The cost of improving energy efficiency
remains a perceived barrier in the North
West’s hospitality industry. According to
research from the Institute of Hospitality
and Envirowise, more than half of managers
in the sector felt that moves to become more
environmentally friendly would increase
their costs. Around 40 per cent also said
that the economic climate was an added
barrier to change. Institute of Hospitality
chief executive, Philippe Rossiter said
despite the figures there were some
encouraging signs, including increased
levels of recycling in the sector, but said
“much more” could be done.
Source:
my-hospitality.com September
2009 |
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Demand for
responsible travel 'not dampened by
recession'
According to Responsible Travel, who sells
£15 million worth of holidays a year, the
economic climate is not dampening consumers'
desire for responsible holidays.
"People have not tapped into responsible
tourism yet. Ten years on, this market is
still at the beginning. It feels like
frontier times." Responsible Travel’s
founder and Chief Executive, Justin Francis
Speaking at the Best of Britain and Ireland
Travel Trade Forum 2009, he added, trends
such as the growing demand for local
sourcing of food are consumer trends the
travel industry should consider.
At the event, minister for tourism Barbara
Follett unveiled the Department for Culture,
Media and Sport's new sustainable tourism
framework for England, entitled 'Winning: a
tourism strategy for 2012 and beyond'. She
claimed the tourism industry needs to adopt
more sustainable and environmentally
friendly ways of working to secure its
long-term future and combat climate change.
Source: 01 April 2009
www.TravelWeekly.co.uk |
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First Choice
launches new online Greener Holidays
brochure
The brochure and dedicated section on the
First Choice website
(www.firstchoice.co.uk/greener-holidays)
will feature hotels from across the world
that have received a Travelife award for
their commitment to the environment,
employees and local communities.
Hotels featured in the brochure meet
specific sustainability criteria which focus
on people and communities as well as the
environment. The brochure also includes
details on sustainable activities, including
excursions available in certain
destinations. There is also an update on
projects supported by the World Care Fund as
well as information on environmental
initiatives onboard First Choice flights.
"If you care about the people and places
you visit, this brochure gives customers a
simple and easy way to do their bit for the
environment when booking a package holiday.
"This demonstrates yet again our commitment
to sustainable tourism and will help
customers to minimise their impact on the
destinations they are visiting." First
Choice's customer director, Tim Williamson
Source: 21 April 2009
www.TravelWeekly.co.uk |
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Holiday
Taxis launches green schemes
Holiday Taxis has launched a carbon
offset scheme to raise a six-figure sum
annually for green projects and is offering
environmentally-friendly hybrid cars. The
company claims to be the only resort
transfer specialist offering holidaymakers
the opportunity to offset emissions against
taxi transfers and use cars powered by
electricity or gas.
Its website now has a ‘green’ section
explaining its commitment to the environment
and how money donated by carbon offsetting
will be spent on projects globally. It has
set a minimum sum of six-figures to raise
for environmental projects.
“Clearly holidaymakers are starting to
make lifestyle choices and it’s becoming
more of a requirement in the corporate
market. It’s about recognising people are
looking to be more
environmentally-conscious.” Sales and
marketing director Russell Parr
The company is also making its offices
environmentally-friendly with the aim of
turning Holiday Taxis into a carbon neutral
transfer provider.
Source: 25 July 2009
www.TravelWeekly.co.uk |
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Ecotourism:
How green is your hotel?
Many hotels are labelled green, but
there is a wide differentiation in what they
actually do. There's a danger of
'greenwashing' - where properties claim to
be eco-friendly, but do little more than ask
residents to reuse their towels. The fact
that some businesses are trying to jump on
the green bandwagon is a sign that
sustainability is starting to matter to
consumers.
"Businesses see greenwash as a way to access
new niche markets and to avoid more
stringent regulation." Rainforest Alliance
communications associate Jessica Webb
Beyond the greenwash, there are hundreds of
excellent examples of sustainable
initiatives in the hotel sector.
Frégate Island, a resort in the Seychelles,
is fighting to boost numbers of the
near-extinct magpie-robin. The Nisbet
Plantation Beach Club in Nevis is planting
an artificial reef, while Jungle Bay Resort
and Spa in Dominica uses guest donations to
support a facility for local disabled
children.
The consensus among responsible operators is
that anything that calls itself 'eco' needs
to be scrutinised. Unlike the fair trade and
organic food industries, there is no one
universal labelling scheme in place for
travel. Currently well-respected schemes
include:
• Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria
• Green Globe
• Certification for Sustainable Tourism
The Rainforest Alliance, the United Nations
Environment Programme and the United Nations
World Tourism Organization are developing a
universal certification body known as the
Sustainable Tourism Stewardship Council. Due
to launch later this year, it should bring
everything under one roof.
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Customer Guide to asking “Is it really
green?”
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Discover whether a property is
truly committed to sustainability by asking:
Do
you have an environmental policy document?
Do
you have any certifications?
Are
you recommended by a reputable conservation
group?
How
do you measure and monitor your contribution
to conservation and local communities?
How
many local people do you employ and in what
positions? What percentage of the total is
this?
Do
you work with local charities or
organisations?
What
percentage of products and services are
sourced in the local area?
How
do you conserve energy and recycle waste?
What
information and advice is provided for
residents on local natural areas, wildlife,
energy
conservation, and local culture and
customs?
How
can residents get involved with
local communities and conservation
projects? |
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Source: 13 May 2009
www.TravelWeekly.co.uk |
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20% growth
expected for The Travel Foundation while
other UK charities struggle in the recession
The sustainable tourism charity, The
Travel Foundation, reported a near 7% fall
in income in 2008 at its annual general
meeting this week, due to the ending of
public sector 'seed money'. But its annual
revenue still passed £1 million for a second
year in succession.
"Consumer donations have been slightly
lower, which is no surprise given the
economic background. But there has been no
drop in industry funding, and we have had
additional support from TUI Travel, The
Co-operative Travel, Virgin Holidays.”
“We are very encouraged when charities as
a whole are having a difficult time. We are
confident we will get at least 20% growth in
industry support this year, and we should be
able to generate increased funding again in
2010." The Travel Foundation Chairman,
Roger Heape
The charity funds responsible tourism
projects in destinations and education on
sustainability in the UK, including the Make
Travel Greener campaign.
Make Travel Greener: 30 minutes that could
change the way you think
The Travel Foundation’s
www.maketravelgreener.com training and
quiz aims to cut through industry confusion
about tourism that takes the environment and
destinations seriously. It believes it can
transform the industry's understanding of
green issues by the end of the year, which
will help staff respond to customer queries
amid growing environmental awareness.
"We want to show that going greener
brings clear business benefits" Travel
Foundation chief executive, Sue Hurdle
The quiz is divided into sections covering
climate change, responsible travel,
destinations, helping your business stand
out, talking to customers and how people can
help.
A total of 11,000 travel industry
professionals have signed up to the Travel
Foundation's ‘Make Travel Greener’ campaign.
The success of surpassing its original
target of 10,000 set for the end of the year
has led the Travel Foundation to double the
number of travel professionals it aims to
sign up by 2010 to 20,000.
TUI Travel UK, Thomas Cook, The Co-operative
Travel, Virgin Holidays, Advantage Travel
Centres and ABTA are among those who have
already signed up.
"Make Travel Greener has proved a great
learning tool for our shops. It is engaging
and accessible and offers a solid
introduction to sustainable tourism."
TUI Travel UK head of sustainable
development, Jane Ashton
Source: 6 July 2009
www.TravelWeekly.co.uk |
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CASE
STUDY: Sustainable Technology
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Green buses using technology
Developments in ubiquitous computing and
mobile communications mean that mobile
technology can be used for car park or bus
ticketing, monitoring traffic, and
delivering information services such as
real-time bus times, which can all be used
to make travelling by public transport more
efficient.
InfoLab21 at Lancaster University has
developed a wireless and mobile
communications project called COMBUS -
COMmunity information for BUSes. It is a
DTI-funded project which uses specially
designed sensors on buses to gather and
distribute diverse data from traffic volume
to pollution levels as the bus travels along
its usual route. As the bus stops at one of
many 'hotspots' or information gathering
stations (placed along the bus route)
information gathered by the bus will be
transferred to a main archive.
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The Green Bus |
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“The Green Bus is a fun, low-carbon way for
pupils to travel to and from school. It’s
the traditional school bus, but re-invented
for the 21st century.” The bus service
includes text-message updates and live GPS
tracking.
http://www.thegreenbus.co.uk
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Applications for Cumbria – The Lake District
could include the use of real time
information to inform walkers on the fells
when the next bus is due, making the bus
network more accessible to visitors to the
area.
Source:
www.InfoLab21.lancs.ac.uk |
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Green Tourism Travelling in Cars - Greenbox
may be able to clean car exhaust
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According to
Cumbria Tourism's 2006 Visitor Survey, the
car was the main mode of transport for 80%
of visitors. The technology for a super
green fleet of cars is closer than one would
imagine, two Welsh engineers and one organic
chemist have created a "Greenbox" that can
clean exhaust from
even the dirtiest of
engines and turn it into almost pure water vapor. The seemingly magical box converts
the captured gases into a biofuel by feeding
it to algae.
Source:
www.Tourism-Futures.org and
www.Reuters.com |
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Tourism Innovation
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Vacation home rented and traded with
Facebook friends
Vacation rentals require a certain
degree of trust, which is why it
makes sense to capitalize on the
trust shared among Facebook friends.
Second Porch is a Facebook app that
lets users list and rent vacation
homes through the popular social
network. Members can list vacation
properties for rent or trade and
control whether their ad is visible
to everyone on the network, or just
their friends. Those looking for a
place can search by map, location,
amenities, price or relationship.
Not only are they able to see the
"face behind the place," as Second
Porch puts it, but they can also
view detailed descriptions and
photos along with comments from past
guests. In addition, they can
"follow" properties they like and
see the recommendations of friends
anywhere in the world. Currently
there are some 600 listings on the
site.
Read More > |
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Farmers use vending machines to sell
produce
In a world wrapped up in complex
supply chains, small farmers are in
a catch-22: sell to the supermarkets
and get less cash for your carrots,
or spend a lot more time and effort
trying to sell directly to
customers. Consumers, meanwhile, are
torn between loyalty to local
businesses and the convenience of
those established supply chains. Now
a German farm, Peter-und-Paul-Hof,
has found a solution in the form
of... vending machines. The machines
currently sell fresh milk, eggs,
butter, cheese, potatoes and sausage
in thirteen German towns and
communities. They can be placed
outdoors 365 days a year as long as
they're under a roof (some have even
been placed alongside hiking trails
in Switzerland), effectively giving
locals a 24-hour farmers' market.
Read More > |
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Smart use of the Smart brand:
car-sharing by Daimler
Aiming to grab a share of the
growing car-sharing market, Daimler
created car2go, which enables
customers to order and pick up a
Smart car within minutes. The
service was rolled out in the German
city of Ulm last October, and is
expected to launch in Austin, Texas
sometime in early 2010.
Cars can be reserved online or over
the phone up to 24 hours in advance,
costing a maximum of EUR 9.90 per
hour or EUR 49.00 for a day. A text
message informs the customer of the
car's exact location. Once the
driver reaches the car, he or she
can unlock it with a PIN code
provided during registration.
Car2go's use of diminutive Smart
cars makes the system more
environmentally friendly than most
other car sharing systems. Having
enticed almost 10% of Ulm's driving
population to use the scheme.
Read More > |
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Cumbria Tourism Research
NEW - How's Business - April 09 to
September 09
We now have the report from the recent
telephone survey of 500 tourism businesses
designed to assess performance over the 6
month high season, unpick factors affecting
business, and look ahead to future
expectations.
Cumbria
has enjoyed a successful period in terms of
guest/visitor numbers. Two in five (41%)
businesses have had more visitors than the
same period last year, and a further third
(34%) have had the same level. Only one in
four (25%) report a decrease. It appears
that more British people have stayed in the
UK. Increases have been seen in both
visitors from overseas (34%), and also new
visitors (45%).
The
increased trade has come at a cost. Just
over one quarter (28%) report an overall
increase in profitability, whereas one in
three (33%) report a decrease. This is an
improvement from the results six months ago,
when one in five (19%) reported increased
profitability and more than two in five
(43%) reported a decrease.
Most
sectors are coping well with the recession
because people appear not to have reduced
their holidays and breaks significantly. The
exception is retail, which has been hit by
lack of spending on arrival.
More
businesses in South Lakeland report improved
profitability than other areas - overall
Carlisle businesses have performed
marginally less well.
This
period has seen a huge increase in last
minute bookings. Nearly half (45%) of
businesses have had more last minute
bookings than normal, compared to only a
minority (9%) who have had fewer.
75%
are level or up on forward bookings for
October to mid –December; 77% for Christmas
and the New Year; and 80% for January to
March 2010.
Expectations
for the next six months are reasonably
bright. Over one in four (28%) say business
is ‘looking good’ and a further half (52%)
have ‘OK’ expectations - 80% overall. Just
one five (20%) say business looks ‘not
great’. This is reasonably positive for the
time of year. This time last year about one
in five (22%) operators said business was
‘looking good’ and about half (49%) said it
was looking ‘OK’ - 71% overall.
More
than one in three (36%) businesses single
out their own website as the means which
will win them the most business during the
next 12 months. Interestingly only a small
minority (2%) say this about listings in
brochures.
Just over one in three (37%) respondents are
not members of Cumbria Tourism. Reasons are
fairly even spread across thinking it’s too
expensive (28%), not knowing enough about it
(26%), not believing there are any benefits
(25%) and believing it’s not relevant to
their sector (20%).
Most
(72%) CT members will be advertising through
CT in the next 12 months. Of these, most
(89%) will advertise on golakes.co.uk and
more than half (59%) in the Holiday Guide.
NEW - Taste District Consumer Research
Following on from the success of our
consumer survey for caravan and camping,
Cumbria Tourism has just completed some
research with people interested in food and
drink, to help inform the development of the
Taste campaign. Within a week of going out
1,764 people responded. Some interesting
results include:
24/25%
plan to take more day trips and short breaks
in the UK over the next 12 months
14/15%
say they will take fewer longer holidays in
the UK over the next 12 months
shorter
breaks abroad look to suffer a net negative
effect but plans for longer holidays abroad
remain stable
people
interested in food and drink are more likely
to choose serviced accommodation, and in
particular hotels
pubs,
followed by restaurants, and then cafes,
were the most popular choice of food and
drink outlet on a trip to Cumbria
up
to 44% of people might bring their own food
and drink
the
type of food available is the most important
factor for most people in deciding where to
eat - this is followed by recommendation and
then reputation. Price and quality assurance
are much less important.
the
internet was the most popular choice for
information pre-visit (65%) compared to
brochures (30%)
60%
of people could be interested in online
booking of table reservations
82%
of people would be influenced by special
offers
websites
and a pocket guide were the most popular
choices for future marketing materials
90%
of people could be interested in a printed
brochure; 87% in e-brochures
To access any of these reports please
contact us.
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Contact Cumbria Tourism's Research
Team
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