How is the tourism sector performing in Cornwall this year?
Every year, Cornwall braces itself for the influx of tourists who come to enjoy our abundant natural beauty, picturesque fishing villages and an escape from the daily grind. Tourism has been a major part of the Cornish economy for many years - so how it is faring in 2022?
With a huge staycation boom behind us in 2021, it seemed inevtable that Cornwall couldn’t sustain the level of visitors of last year - three lockdowns and the continued riskiness of international travel meant that millions of Britons chose to take their holidays closer to home, and Cornwall was filled with vistors.
How are visitor trends looking in 2022? Here’s some of the key findings from this year:
Numbers look like they are tracking below both 2021 and 2019
The Spring shoulder season (from April to June) saw a worrying start to the season with many attractions and hotels tracking bookings significantly down on 2021 - which was to be expected - but with many seeing a dip on the more comparable 2019 figures.
People are booking later
Within the accommodation sector, there seems to be an emerging pattern of booking later, often in the hope of securing a better deal. This has included very late last-minute bookings. Previous trends had seen people booking ahead to try to ensure they had definitely secured a family holiday.
This year, some hotels are operating at a third of their normal capacity - even in the height of August - leaving the consumer confident that they can secure a last-minute deal at a reasonable price. This is increasingly important to the consumer with the current cost of living crisis - if customers are lookng for a holiday, they want it to be as cost effective as possible.
Forward booking for autumn and winter remains slow, following the same pattern.
People are changing their mind at the last minute
This factor may be influenced by the ongoing pressures on the cost of living. Hotels and serviced accommodation are seeing higher numbers of late cancellations than in previous years - a trend which is affecting many areas of tourism, but these types of accommodation are particularly hard hit.
A growing appetite for free or low-cost activities
Many visitor attractions are being affected by this change in customer behaviour, with a drop-off in advance bookings and visitor numbers tracking lower than in 2019 and 2021 for many visitor experiences.
A combination of sunny weather combined with families looking to spend less money while they’re away on holiday, is having a significant impact on what are perceived to be luxury extras on your holiday.
Visitors are changing their behavioural patterns in order to be able to afford a holiday
Visitors are trading down on accommodation and are shortening their length of stay, rather than forego having a holiday altogether. Many visitors are looking at alternative types of accommodation to their usual preferred option, or booking long weekends instead of week-long stays.
Lower than expected website traffic
Many businesses in thr tourism sector are seeing the downward trend reflected in their website traffic, with some organisations reporting a 30-50% drop in website traffic during the early summer months, compared to 2021, and a smaller drop of 15-30% compared to 2019.
With international travel back for many, and the cost of living crisis affecting lucury spending for others, it is no surprise that trends for website traffic are down from 2021.
Key to this is context - always compare against 2019 for a truer reflection of where things are, and consider the PESTEL factors that could be affecting peope’s decisions to spend money.
Holiday parks appear to be beating the trend
Cost-effective holiday parks with on-site facilities are doing well in 2022, with many matching or beating 2019 figures. This chimes with the need to find more affordable holiday options for many families during the current budgetary crisis.
Holiday parks have the added bonus of on-site entertainment, pools and water parks, play areas and both affordable on-site F&B offers as well as the freedom to eat in your accommodation.
Self-catering accommodation is also seeing numbers lower than those encountered in 2019 and 2021, and losing out on the same pattern of late cancellations and higher than average vacancies in August .
Newquay is seeing heavy footfall in the town due to the large numbers of holiday parks in the area, creating a knock on benefit to the town centre and local attractions - but this pattern isn’t being reflected across other areas such as Penzance, Falmouth or Truro.
These trends aren’t just true of Cornwall
Colleagues in Devon, Somerset and Dorset, as well as the Isle of Wight, Norfolk and Cumbria appear to confirm these patterns are similar in their areas. They are also seeing some towns popular with the holiday park sector doing better than other areas in their county, giving added weight to the theory that the holiday park sector is performing better than post and supporting the tourism sector in those areas.
Now is the time to start planning ahead for your 2023 marketing strategy. Despite worrying times on the economic front, it has been proven that those businesses who continue to invest in their marketing during financially hard times see the benefits.
If you’d like to continue the conversation and discuss getting my support with your marketing and communications, please get in touch. You can email lauren@talktoroscoe.com or complete the Contact form on the website