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Tourism Stats Monitor

Business Tourism has been hit the hardest in terms of volume while spend amongst tourists on holiday has reduced the most. The number of inbound visitors to the UK was down while total spend remained constant in nominal terms. Most visitors' currencies are going further and with each visitor spending more on average. Less UK residents are travelling aboard for their holidays.

Tourism News

Record bookings for P&O Cruises and Cunard 2011 world voyages programmes
P&O Cruises and Cunard received a record number of bookings when its World Voyages 2011 programmes opened on July 1. As many as 2,044 people booked voyages from the two programmes - 47% more than on the same day last year, when 1,385 bookings were made for 2010 world voyages.

"The success of this launch day suggests that cruising is more immune to the economic climate and that holidays are still a priority." (P&O Cruises managing director Nigel Esdale)

Source: 03 July 2009 www.travelweekly.co.uk

Hoseasons profits up as consumers opt for UK holidays

Hoseasons’ pre-tax profits for the year ending October 31, 2008, have risen by almost £1 million as domestic breaks continue to prove popular during the recession. The operator, which is known for its UK lodges, cottages and boating programmes, saw profits rise from £2.15 million in 2007 to £3.13 million in 2008. Sales were up from £13.7 million to £15.6 million.

Chief executive Richard Carrick said the figures were in part a result of strong sales of upmarket park lodge accommodation and new city-break apartments. Carrick plans to triple the city apartment programme by early next year and move the product into Europe for the first time. The apartments were proving particularly popular with families and groups, as they provided good value self-catering city accommodation not offered by hotels, he added.

Source: 01 July 2009 www.travelweekly.co.uk

Nearly 70% UK hotel operators are financially shaky, warns analyst

More than two thirds of the UK’s hotel operators are in financial danger, analyst firm Plimsoll Publishing has warned.
1,000 of the UK’s largest hotel companies were ranked into the following five groups according to their overall financial performance.

The graph shows a polarisation between failing and strong hotel groups in the industry, but with nearly 70% of companies in danger and with their survival in question.

Source: 01 July 2009 www.caterersearch.com

New Manchester routes for Easyjet - offering new city breaks abroad
Easyjet will launch three new routes from Manchester this winter. On October 29, it will start flying three times a week from Manchester to Marrakech. On November 6 it will start a six-times-a-week service to Copenhagen and a four-times-a-week service to Munich.

"This is our most exciting route launch to date from Manchester as it represents our first significant offering of low-cost city break destinations from the airport.” (UK commercial manager Carly Brear)

Source: 29 June 2009 www.travelmole.com

Tourism Trends

Change in Consumer Spend

Following a recent survey into the recessionary impacts on consumers spending behaviour BDRC have divided the market into different segments.

1 in 4 consumers fall into the ‘Lucky’ or ‘Alright’ segments, as yet unaffected by recession, with discretionary spending levels unchanged or even higher than 12 months ago. Almost 1 in 6 are ‘Hard hit’ by the recession and feel they have no option but to cut back on spending.

Spending behaviour in the next three months

‘Eating out at restaurants’ and ‘paid entry to visitor attractions’ were the top spending areas consumers expect to cut back on. Cutting back on ‘short breaks in the UK’ was measured to be less of a priority.

As consumers cut breaks abroad, the UK short breaks are likely to benefit but this is tempered by domestic tourists aiming to spend less while on holiday.

Tourism Innovation

General Trends

Cumbria Tourism Research

NEW – Cumbria Tourism Volume and Value 2000-2008

The 2008 volume and value estimates from the STEAM model have been received and summarised to illustrate the trends since 2000.

NEW - What Makes You Move?

Cumbria Tourism, Natural England and Friends of the Lakes have just completed a research project into sustainable visitor transport. The report segments visitors into different types according to their travel attitudes and perceptions. The report identifies:

who would be the best target for sustainable marketing

who are more likely to changes their travel behaviours

which 'messages' would be most appealing to them

which media/information sources would be most appropriate

The majority of visitors think that they would find it difficult to reduce their car use when visiting Cumbria - the Lake District.

The message that would most likely motivate visitors into taking more sustainable forms of transport is the concept that by doing so they are helping to 'protect the lakes'.

NEW - Keswick, Penrith and Ulverston Destination Benchmark Reports 2008

3 market towns in Cumbria were surveyed last year as part of the national benchmarking scheme. This is the first time the town surveys have been repeated in the benchmark scheme and the reports include findings of how things have changed since 2005, when the surveys were last run.

NEW - Business Survey Oct 2008 – Mar 2009

The latest business survey was undertaken during April 2009 and includes 500 telephone interviews. The survey asks tourism businesses how their profitability and visitor volume compares to the same period last year. Topical issues are also covered as well as identifying what the confidence levels are for business in the next six months. Read More>

To access any of these reports please contact us.

Research Update

2009 Visitor Survey

QA Research have been commissioned to carry out our county-wide visitor survey this year. 1,500 visitors will be interviewed around the county between June and September. More than 70 interview locations have been chosen, designed to capture a representative sample of our visitors. In addition a further 750-1,000 visitors will complete a mini-survey. We are also targeting international visitors specifically, through self-complete surveys, 200 of which will be interviewer-led, and a further 500 will be distributed via tourist information centres and businesses with significant international markets. The international visitor survey will be available in English, German, French, Spanish, Japanese and Chinese.

Contact Cumbria Tourism's Research Team

Helen Tate - Research Manager - htate@cumbriatourism.org Nick Truch - Research Executive - ntruch@cumbriatourism.org Ann Clarke - Development Assistant - aclarke@cumbriatourism.org   Cumbria Tourism, Research Department, Windermere Road, Staveley, Kendal, Cumbria, LA8 9PL 01539 822 222 - www.cumbriatourism.org