Telling some would-be visitors ‘Cornwall’s not for you’ is right policy

IT takes a brave tourism boss to tell some would-be visitors to their patch “stay away...” but Malcolm Bell, the chief executive of Visit Cornwall and a long-serving servant of the tourism industry, has never shied away from controversy.

Today, as he prepares to step down from the role, he has some good advice for his successor and the many and various tourism businesses across the Duchy. It is advice that applies in other popular parts of the South West, too.

Essentially, Mr Bell’s recipe for a successful holiday industry is to devise something that suits the locals first. That means creating an atmosphere that is welcoming and attractive as a place to live. That way, it is also going to be appealing to holidaymakers, too. And anyone who doesn’t like it that way and wants something different can holiday elsewhere.

All over the world, tourism hotspots have to cope with the same sort of pressures as Cornwall deals with, year in and year out. Those pressures – too many people in too small an area – were magnified many times during the summers of 2020 and 2021, when restrictions caused by the pandemic brought people to Cornwall who would not ordinarily have chosen a staycation but were left with no choice and thought Cornwall – now relatively easy to get to and regularly featured on TV and in newspapers – would have to do.

Some, we are sure, were delighted with what they found. But those hoping for an entirely different kind of holiday were disappointed. Mr Bell’s message? Don’t come back.

He is absolutely right that simply expanding, year after year, the number of visitors that any area can welcome is unsustainable. And sustainable tourism of a kind that fits in with the locals’ way of life, provides the right kind of jobs and rewards for workers and is spread more evenly across Cornwall and throughout the year, must be the aspiration for the future.

The Cornwall offering – given the catchy title Cornwall Evergreen – maps out a future which sells Cornwall for its culture, restaurants, heritage and wildlife. It also see niche markets for people like dog owners, especially in winter when the beaches can be open for dogs and the area is less crowded. Mr Bell’s parting shot with Visit Cornwall is a new website, Cornwall for All Seasons, which seeks, among other things, to boost visitor numbers in the shoulder seasons of spring and autumn by up to 20%.

That makes sense, just as not relying on the sunshine to bring people to the Westcountry makes sense, too.

This year – one of the hottest and driest on record – brought significant numbers of visitors, but spending was down as no one spends much money if they are on the beach all day. Next year, however, we could have a more normal summer and the need to sell Cornwall on the culture, the wildlife, the landscape and the heritage will be centre stage again. There is an audience – a very big audience, certainly big enough for Cornwall – which buys into all of that. Under the Bell vision, those are the people Cornwall needs to attract. The rest can just stay away.