Western Morning News (Saturday)
Snub high season visitors at your peril
SO it seems we are set for a summer of staycations. For those of us who are lucky enough to live in the South West, that’s not such a bad thing. We can take a holiday in God’s own country without travelling very far.
But will we be able to find anywhere to stay at the height of the holiday season when the rest of the UK is also heading west?
I’m one of the fortunate few who isn’t tied to school holidays when the cost of UK holidays soar as families crowd on to the M5 for their summer breaks.
And what those of us who live here also know, is that the Westcountry is not actually at its best in August.
We prefer to visit the beach or moor in May, June, late September or October, when the sun is just as likely to shine and the crowds dispersed.
So should we, or shouldn’t we, welcome the plan by Cornwall tourism chief Malcolm Bell to cut the number of people visiting the Duchy in the summer and increase off-season tourism?
Mr Bell, chief executive of Visit
Cornwall, has suggested that Cornwall could be a pilot area for a new register of accommodation providers specialising in off-season breaks.
He believes that tourism will be more sustainable if it is spread more evenly across the year – particularly if those visitors don’t just come here to sit on a beach.
He hopes they will spend money on quality accommodation, enjoy local produce and absorb our heritage and environment. A nervous glance at UK holiday habits would suggest, however, that Mr Bell is being a little hopeful.
Brits like beaches. We are the bucket and spade brigade. In general we prefer our holidays to be recreational, rather than cultural or culinary.
And while older, more affluent visitors could be attracted, the majority of staycationers will still be young families who are tied to the school year and who face fines for removing children to take them on holiday.
We must also consider the thriftiness of many older holidaymakers, many of whom have invested in their own motorhomes. Their plea for more European-style ‘aires’, where they can pitch up overnight for a tenner, has not gone down well in the Westcountry.
Mr Bell predicts that as well as boosting tourism income by around £200m, having more off-peak visitors would ensure that there would be more full-time, year-round jobs in tourism and aid career progression in the industry.
I’d argue that the UK tourism season has already been extended from Easter until the end of October so we are already half-way there.
But winter tourism relies on quality indoor accommodation, not campsites and holiday parks. That means more luxury rentals and probably smart hotels. If we can meet that need without allowing a mass of new development we could be on to a winner, even if it means sharing beaches with visitors in December.
If we can tap further into the overseas market, attracting visitors from Europe and America to our improved offering, all the better.
But we snub the bucket-and-spade and motorhome brigade at our peril. Overseas holiday resorts are likely to come back fighting for UK customers once they have a grip on the pandemic.
We need to keep in mind the budget of the average UK-family and the ease with which they will be able to board a ferry out of Plymouth to sunnier destinations in France and Spain.
In the immediate aftermath of the pandemic, most people are going to be grateful for whatever holiday they can get. But trying to tailor the market to the offering might be a gamble rather than a winning move.
Brits like beaches. We are the bucket and spade brigade. We prefer our holidays to be recreational