tourism Brits taking holidays overseas


UK’s weather appears to be driving holidaymakers abroad with three quarters of peo- ple stating they will take an overseas vacation this year, research consultancy BDRC Continental reveals. The company’s annual


Holiday Trends survey reveals the number planning a ‘stay- cation’ had dropped for the first time in four years - with the poor weather being sited as the main reason the UK had lost its appeal for holidaymakers. However, London bucked


2012 – A Curate’s Egg


kurt janson is policy director of Tourism Alliance


T Domestic tourism, which boomed in 2012, could see a decline in 2013


the trend with boasting an increase in the number of domestic bookings already made for 2013 compared with the same period last year.Of those considering London for a holi- day 31 per cent said last year’s Olympics and Paralympics had had a positive influence on their decision. In the 2012 survey 66 per cent


of people planned an overseas holiday but this increased to 73 per cent in this year’s survey. The survey also found that review sites


influenced holiday decision making with 41 per cent using the websites for most or all of the holidays they had taken. Details: http://lei.sr?a=G5m1X


Coventry plans to keep London 2012 ambassadors


Coventry City Council will this month con- sider whether to provide funding for a scheme to recruit, train and manage volunteers, fol- lowing the success of the city’s ambassadors involved in London 2012. Te ambassadors would welcome visitors to the city at major


events and the scheme would be run as a social enterprise by Coventry University. The council will consider whether to


provide £20,000 for the scheme’s first year at its cabinet meeting on 15 April. Details: http://lei.sr?a=o2U9D


New website for tourists with disabilities


A website to inform travel- lers about disability access at English hotels and attrac- tions has been launched by Tourism for All UK in part- nership with VisitEngland, at the House of Lords. Te OpenBritain.net web-


site will also help business in England reach out to the lucrative accessible tour- ism market. Speaking at the launch Paralympian Baroness Tanni Grey-Tompson said the website would mean peo- ple with disabilities would no longer have to “make do” with their travel choices. “I hope that every hotel, attraction and


he figures for UK domestic tour- ism in 2012 have been released by VisitEngland. Tey show that total number of visits for the year


was down by 1 per cent to 126m while expen- diture on domestic tourism was up £1.3bn to a record £24.0bn. Impressive figures, consid- ering the impact of the weather, combined with the double-dip recession and the want of many people to sit in front of the TV dur- ing the Olympics. However, these topline figures hide a


complicated picture of distinct winners and losers within the tourism sector. One major trend is that the increase in domestic holi- day taking has occurred only within certain socio-economic groups. While more domes- tic holidays have been undertaken by ABC1 families (who have substituted domestic hol- idays for their usual overseas holidays), the number of holidays taken by those in the DEF socio-economic groups has declined. Te reason for this is that these groups


didn’t take overseas holidays and, with their discretionary income being eroded, are now simply not taking holidays. As a result, destinations that cater mainly


for ABC1 customers have shown increased visitor numbers and revenue while those that cater for DEF customers have seen a decline. Yet even within an ABC1 destination, the picture is not straightforward. Visitors to these destinations are still looking to find ways of economising and so businesses that are deemed to offer value for money are doing better than others. For example, there is a noticeable shiſt in accommodation from 3-4 star hotels to high-end self-catering properties as a means of economising with- out reducing comfort. Similarly, attractions are reporting good visitor numbers, but also report lower secondary spend. Te second trend is that while domes-


Te website informs users about accessible hotels and destinations Tourism for All UK is a charity dedicated to


restaurant in Britain will take advantage of the chance to easily promote their facilities to disabled travellers.”


© Cybertrek 2013


removing barriers to disabled and older peo- ple, which restrict their access to tourism and leisure. Details: http://lei.sr?a=c8A6j


Twitter: @leisureopps


tic trips decreased by 1 per cent last year, the number of day-visits increased by 11 per cent. Tis means that destinations within two hour’s drive of a major conurbation have done well, while those destinations further away are under pressure. If you’re an attrac- tion within a daytrip zone, you will have done a lot better than a hotel.


Read Leisure Opportunities online: www.leisureopportunities.co.uk/digital 13


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