VisitBritain’s Trip Tracker survey shows that the British believe England is…
VisitBritain’s Trip Tracker survey shows that the British believe England is the place to be this Christmas, as staying at home continues to be the new going away.
Domestic Tourism
VisitBritain’s Trip Tracker survey shows 4 per cent of British people will be taking a holiday in the UK over the Christmas and New Year period. 73 per cent of respondents said they were going to be spending the festive period at home, while 30 per cent will be visiting friends and relatives in the UK.
For the coming year, Enjoy England’s Great Ideas 2006 and a new branding campaign will continue to inspire and raise awareness of all that the destination offers for British visitors. Our commitment to raising awareness of England’s rich range of quality accommodation will be reflected in new campaigns for City Culture, Taste England and Family Fun, complementing the ongoing Just Relax and Outdoor England initiatives. We will ensure that participants of our Quality schemes get the full benefit of their membership by promoting only assessed establishments in our activities and drive forward initiatives to bring more of the tourism industry online through developing enjoyengland.com and EnglandNet – making it easier for consumers to find and book a domestic holiday.
Enjoy England will continue to work closely with the travel trade in 2006, planning a joined up approach to a programme of marketing activity with all major retailers (Going Places, Thomson, Co-op and Thomas Cook) with monthly activity with each operator. In addition there will be a continued presence at roadshows for agents across England and sponsorship of the Aspire Conference in March 2006.
Inbound Tourism
VisitBritain anticipates that Britain’s visitor economy will grow in the coming years as we aim to reach the target of an industry worth £100 billion by 2010. For 2006, VisitBritain expects to see the number of inbound visitors coming to the UK increase by 4.4% to 30.6 million visits, while modest growth of 4.3% in the real value of their spending should see it reach £14.5 billion. However, the rate of growth will be more moderate than the sharp increases seen during 2004 and early 2005.
The strongest performance in 2006 is expected to come from Asia and from emerging markets in Eastern Europe. The increasing number of direct, low-cost services from Eastern Europe to many regional airports across the UK is already resulting in rapid growth in inbound tourism, although largely in shorter-stay visits. There will be slower growth from the Americas, even though many US airlines are planning to expand their international route networks, moving capacity away from the overcrowded domestic market. We may well see increases in the availability of, and greater price competitiveness for, trans-Atlantic aviation. But it will not necessarily be a year of growth for every sector of inbound tourism and visits for business and to friends and relatives are forecast to expand more strongly than holidays.
Feedback from the tourism industry
ABTA
This year travel agents have had the benefit of a new training and selling tool “bookbritain”, which has made booking British holidays easier, as a result the domestic market has again been successful for agents, although it was a tough summer for London bookings. Booking the UK is firmly on agents` agenda for 2006.
ABTA members have again concentrated on growing their markets in destinations away from the traditional short-haul holiday hotspots and 2006 will continue to follow this pattern, with tour operators now able to provide some wonderful niche holidays, activity options and long haul destinations. Charter flights to tsunami-hit destinations will be re-introduced this winter and the still favourable dollar exchange-rate continues to drive Brits stateside.
Cruising is again expected to be the fastest growing sector in the industry with the numbers of passengers taking an ocean cruise in 2006 expected to rise 16% to reach 1.25 million. Next year eight new cruise ships will be launched and the emerging trend towards ex-UK port cruising is also expected to increase.
AEO/AEV/AEC
The Association of Exhibition Organisers (AEO) along with the Association of Event Venues (AEV) and the Association of Exhibition Contractors (AEC), continues to grow strongly, collectively reaching 300 members in September.
2006 has been declared, by the AEO, as the “Year of Industry Promotion” and it anticipates that the profile of the Exhibitions and Events industry will be raised considerably in the eyes of business leaders, media buyers and government, following the results of the first-ever Economic Impact Study on the industry. This research conducted by KPMG reveals that over 17 million people visit UK exhibitions each year and that the industry contributes an estimated £9.3billion to the UK economy and supports 137,000 jobs.
Association of British Professional Conference Organisers (ABPCO)
Prospects for 2006 are looking very healthy with increased numbers of enquiries being handled by members of ABPCO, not least in the international association conference sector. Bookings are presently somewhat lower for 2007 but 2008 is also showing strong activity and forward bookings. Clients are demanding greater creativity and demonstrable return on investment from their conference and live event programmes.
British Association of Conference Destinations (BACD)
The `British Conference Venues Survey 2005`) found that two-thirds of venues surveyed expected higher levels of conference business in 2005 than in 2004, and only 9 per cent projected a downturn. In general, the outlook among destination marketers is optimistic and confidence in business for 2006 is quite robust. This confidence is underscored by the continuing levels of investment in the physical conference product as major construction programmes take effect right across the UK, especially among purpose-built convention centres but also in hotel venues and the residential conference/training centre market.
British Hospitality Association
The July bombings in London clearly caused a blip in the capital`s figures, but London hotels recovered quickly and UK hotels generally have enjoyed an average 3.5 per cent increase in room rate in 2005 compared with the previous year – even though occupancy has dropped slightly. Barring further terrorist outrages, 2006 should see further improvements.
The decision to hold the Olympic Games in London in 2012 has boosted the capital`s profile, which will inevitably gather momentum. The Games will benefit hotels throughout the country, but we still need to promote Britain strongly and worldwide competition is fierce.
Bob Cotton, chief executive of the British Hospitality association said: “We must continue to encourage more domestic short- and long-break holidays, and our overseas marketing is critically important. Do we have the resources to take full advantage of the opportunities presented? This is a tall order, made more difficult by the niggardly government funding for VisitBritain. Its grant-in-aid remaining unchanged for eight years; if we`re serious about reaching that £100bn tourism value target by 2010, (which benefits the Treasury so significantly) more investment in tourism promotion is surely needed.”
Coach Tourism Council
The UK coach tourism industry has enjoyed a renaissance in 2005 with increased numbers of visitors taking tours with the 200 coach operators who are members of the Coach Tourism Council.
“There has been a huge multi million pound investment in new ultra modern coaches and members are increasingly basing their tours on 4 star hotel accommodation to meet the needs and aspirations of visitors,” said the CTC’s chief executive Chris Wales. “It also seems that people are at last appreciating that the UK is a fantastic destination for a touring holiday. It’s not just our heritage and culture that attracts people, but the increase in choice offered by coach companies. Themed tours from Bronte to Dickens, historic houses and gardens, concerts and sporting events are more popular than ever and we are confident their popularity will increase in 2006.”
The CTC, which promotes travel and tourism by coach, is in the vanguard of moves to raise the profile of coaching and underline the continuing improvements in service, comfort and choice of tours and holidays by coach.
Hoseasons
2006 seems set to be yet another highly competitive year for the travel industry. In the self-catering arena we anticipate continued demand for leading edge products, alongside an increased trend in short breaks.
Hoseasons has always remained committed to responding to and addressing customer needs and expectations.
Therefore in 2006 Hoseasons will:
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
