TOURISM


Is the tide turning on the UK tourism boom?


KURT JANSON is policy director of the Tourism Alliance


Shaun to support stay-cations


Shaun the Sheep – of Wallace & Gromit fame – is to front a new £4m campaign to ensure Brits don’t have the wool pulled over their eyes on the benefits of holidaying at home. The Aardman animat ion


O


ver the last four years the tour- ism industry has been at the forefront of the UK’s economic recovery. It has generated a


third of all additional jobs in the country, provided a boost to export earnings and helped maintain regional economies. During this period it has been


supported by a low exchange rate against the euro encouraging UK residents to holiday at home, while the success of the Olympics has boosted the UK’s image internationally and helped bring evermore overseas visitors into the country. But the latest figures on domestic and


inbound tourism suggest that the tide may be turning. Figures to the end of October 2014 show that expenditure by overseas visitors to the UK is only 2 per cent higher than 2013. If this trend continues it will cer- tainly not be a disaster, but compared to the 13 per cent increase in tourism revenue in 2013, it represents a significant slowdown. And, with Europe back in recession, it


would be optimistic to expect inbound tourism growth from the continent this year. Domestically, the 2014 figures look significantly worse. Te number of trips taken in the UK by residents (to the end of September) is down 7 per cent on 2013 and expenditure is down by 4 per cent. Tis is driven by two main factors. First,


hard-pressed lower socio-economic groups are cutting down on holiday expenditure, while the pound’s gains on the euro have seen a 3 per cent increase in overseas travel for higher socioeconomic groups. Te second main reason for the decrease


is a severe decline in business travel – trips were down 16 per cent in September and are tracking at 11 per cent down for 2014 as a whole. Tis seems incongruous with the rise in employment and the economy growing at 3% but may reflect cuts to public sector travel as departmental and council budgets come under increased pressure. Whatever the explanation, it is clear that


whoever wins the election in May needs to address some of the underlying competitive problems faced by the industry such as VAT and Air Passenger Duty for the industry to continue to provide jobs and growth.


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character, whose new feature film Shaun the Sheep Te Movie debuts on 6 February, will front the campaign designed to inspire Britons to take a holiday at home this year. A forthcoming series of TV


adverts will follow Shaun and his farmyard friends on holiday in the UK, as they encourage consumers to book a ‘baa-rilliant’ holiday deal through their local travel agent. Te VisitEngland initiative, which is backed


by the other home nation tourist boards, will also see the opening of a new themed attrac- tion in Cornwall this March – the ‘Shaun the Sheep Experience at Land’s End’. “Following on from the success of the third


Holidays at Home are GREAT campaign last year, which starred Wallace & Gromit we have partnered again with Aardman to create another super TV advertisement,” said VisitEngland chief executive James Berresford. “I am confident Shaun will fuel the public’s imagination and inspire them to take a holiday


Shaun the Sheep is also making his big screen debut in 2015


in the UK this year. Tis new campaign forms a key part of VisitEngland’s strategy to grow tourism in this country, supporting the Government’s agenda for growth.” High street travel agents including


Thomas Cook, Thomson, Advantage, Worldchoice, Barrhead Travel, Hays Travel, Bath Travel and Midcounties Cooperative will be participating in the campaign pro- moting deals around the UK over the summer period. Also on board are opera- tors Superbreak, Hoseasons, Bourne Leisure, Shearings Holidays and Attraction World. Details: http://lei.sr?a=9n8n5


Conference to explore cold water tourism


Tourism representatives from Scotland, Wales, Te Netherlands and Denmark are to organise the very first European conference on cold water island tourism. Based on the concept that cold


water islands, particularly those in the North Atlantic, face common tourism opportunities and chal- lenges, the conference aims to find strategies for economic growth using these countries’ natural resources. One of the event’s key themes will


be the sustainable growth of these island communities, most of which rely on tourism as a mainstay of their economy. “Island tourism tends to focus on warm


North Atlantic islands like Arran are ideally suited to such tourism


water locations such as the Mediterranean, the Caribbean and the Pacific Ocean,” said Alastair Dobson of Visit Arran – a Scottish island tourism body. “Cold water island tourism is vitally important to the economy for the island communities but, impor- tantly, cold water islands offer tourists a wonderful opportunity to get close to nature and to experience authentic island life...


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


and for northern European markets these experiences are much closer to home.” Te EU’s Blue Growth Strategy highlights


the importance of developing all aspects of the marine environment for economic devel- opment. Te ‘blue economy’ as it is known, represents around 5.4m jobs and gener- ates a gross added value of almost £380bn annually. Coastal tourism is one of the areas in the strategy targeted for further growth. Details: http://lei.sr?a=K2N4P


Twitter: @leisureopps © CYBERTREK 2015


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