Tourism Business Monitor Accommodation Report Wave 5 Mid-ember until the end of October
Background, objectives and research method Tourism Business Monitor designed to measure, monitor and understand tourism business performance and confidence and the factors which influence them. Amalgamation of two previous surveys discontinued at end of 2011: England Attractions Monitor Accommodation Business Confidence Monitor Telephone survey conducted five times per year immediately following key tourism periods among: c. 500 accommodation establishments (c. 250 serviced / c. 250 non-serviced), including mix by region, establishment size and hotels / guest houses / B&B / self-catering / caravan and campsites. c. 300 visitor attractions including mix by region, attraction type, size (measured by annual visitor admissions) and free / paid admission. Questions on hot topics included on a periodic basis. Fieldwork dates: : 3-9, reviewing mid-ember until the end of October : 8-, reviewing the period from mid-july up until the end of the summer holidays July : -20 July, reviewing the period after the Easter holidays up until mid-july : 24-1 May, reviewing the Easter period Jan : 6-12 January, reviewing the Christmas and New Year period : 4-10, reviewing mid-ember until the end of October : 9-, reviewing the period from mid-july up until the end of the summer holidays Jul : 11-19 July, reviewing the period after the Easter holidays up until mid-july : 15-21 il, reviewing the period from January until the end of the Easter holidays Jan : 7- January, reviewing the Christmas and New Year period 2012 2
Accommodation sample targets (total 500) % Serviced Accommodation Non-serviced Accommodation 100 Hotels 150 Guest Houses / B&Bs 150 Selfcatering 100 Caravan / Campsites North (North East, North West, Yorkshire) 32 42 40 26 Midlands (East Midlands, East, Heart of England) 22 29 29 29 South (South East, South West) 36 70 79 45 London 10 9 2 0 25 hotels with over 100 bed spaces 60 guest houses / B&Bs with over 10 bed spaces 35 self-catering with over 10 bed spaces 40 caravan / campsites with over 100 bed spaces This is the target sample for each wave, reflecting the profile of accommodation in England. There are minor variations wave on wave, which are corrected by weighting the profile if needed. 3
Key Findings Accommodation businesses have fared well during the post-summer holiday period, resulting in a 5% increase in visitor numbers overall. This in turn has buoyed year-to-date figures, with an overall increase in visitors of 4% for the year so far. Good advanced booking levels for the forthcoming period has also boosted confidence and businesses are generally feeling more optimistic about the run up to the end of the year than they were at this point last year. All accommodation types have seen increases amongst all visitor types, but more markedly for repeat visitors. A successful year so far has boosted the YTD figures, with 63% saying visitor figures are up compared with the same time last year. Less than 1 in 5 accommodation businesses have reported a decrease in visitors for this latest period, which is an improvement on this time last year. The majority of hotels continue to see increases in visitors for this latest period, and for the year-to-date 83% and 80% respectively; their most successful period in terms of visitor increases since pre-il. Similarly, the highest proportion of seaside businesses since pre-il have reported visitor increases for this latest period, possibly influenced by the clement weather recently. As a result of the positive performance over the recent period, satisfaction levels are higher than they were in amongst all business types. Advance booking levels have dipped since the period but are higher than at this same time last year, when % of businesses said booking levels were very good compared with 21% this year. Advance bookings are markedly down amongst caravan/campsites on the approach to the Winter season at their lowest level since pre-jan. Confidence levels, however, are higher for all business types than at this same time last year and optimism for the year as a whole remains high. Almost 2 in 5 businesses overall say they are definitely aware of the Rugby World Cup, and this unsurprisingly rises to half of businesses within Rugby World Cup regions. Of those aware of the Rugby World Cup, 1 in 5 were definitely aware of any RWC games or affiliated events in their area. Although low levels, slightly more businesses in Rugby World Cup areas are reporting more enquires/bookings than usual for that period than those in non-rugby World Cup areas, suggesting that the Rugby World Cup may already be having a direct influence on accommodation bookings. 4
Business Dashboard 5
Business Performance Dashboard: Accommodation VISITOR NUMBERS Visitor numbers (%) 17 17 21 19 62 64 Versus same period previous year Down Same Up Visitor numbers for period from mid- until the end of Oct compared with same period (%) Hotels Guest house/ B&B Self-catering 58 52 83 24 25 10 7 17 24 YTD Caravan/ camping 58 23 19 SATISFACTION Satisfaction (%) 2 7 51 43 45 Satisfied with business performance Not at all Not very Satisfaction with Performance during period from mid- until end of Oct (%) Hotels Guest house/ B&B 56 50 40 45 96 95 48 49 Quite Very Self-catering 46 84 YTD Caravan/ camping 41 48 89 Q3/4, Q6, 7/8, 10 PERIOD ASKED ABOUT FOR PAST BUSINESS PERFORMANCE : Mid-ember until the end of October 6
Business Confidence Dashboard: Accommodation Very confident Fairly confident 81 83 79 74 82 73 70 78 89 86 81 83 90 91 92 87 63 42 47 46 50 48 44 55 43 48 52 54 52 43 42 45 18 41 32 28 32 25 26 23 46 29 29 48 49 42 Jan 2012 Easter 2012 June 2012 July 2012 2012 2012 Jan July Jan Jul 97 37 Very confident Fairly confident 87 86 82 45 54 46 60 42 32 36 Hotels B&B Self catering Caravan/ Camping Q PERIOD ASKED ABOUT FOR FUTURE BUSINESS CONFIDENCE : Up until the end of the year 7
Visitor Profile 8
Changing Visitor Profile (year-to-date vs. previous year): Accommodation Up Same Down NET: Up - Down Domestic visitors 51 11 +27 44 29 23 27 27 15 Jan Jul 39 18 Up Down 43 34 30 36 17 19 19 Jan Jul 36 12 11 Up Down Overseas visitors 30 51 18 +12 35 30 26 22 22 15 Jan Jul 16 34 29 25 31 24 20 23 19 Jan Jul 30 18 Repeat visitors 45 52 3 +42 37 10 23 24 Jan Jul 39 39 10 9 7 Up 46 Down 34 33 8 9 9 Jan Jul 4 3 45 Q12 9
Changing Visitor Profile (year-to-date vs. previous year): Accommodation type All accommodation types have seen increases amongst all visitor types, but most markedly for repeat visitors Up Same Down Domestic visitors () Hotels 41 53 Guest Houses / B&Bs 35 53 6 12 NET: Up - Down 35 23 Domestic visitors Self-Catering Caravan / Camping 39 40 49 49 12 11 27 29 Overseas visitors () Hotels 44 47 9 35 Guest Houses / B&Bs 26 51 23 3 Overseas visitors Self-Catering Caravan / Camping 31 25 48 57 22 18 9 7 Repeat visitors () Hotels 42 57 1 41 Guest Houses / B&Bs 37 60 3 34 Repeat visitors Self-Catering Caravan / Camping 51 51 46 44 3 5 48 46 Q12 10
Past Performance 11
Visitor numbers: Year-on-year changes A successful year so far has boosted the YTD figures, with 63% saying visitors are up compared with the same time last year. Less than 1 in 5 have reported a decrease in visitors for this latest period, which is an improvement on this time last year. % 45 16 21 5 12 Up Slightly up Exactly same YTD 56 7 19 3 15 Slightly down Down 70 50 30 10 22 33 32 28 44 55 52 43 44 55 61 Up -10 Down -30-50 -70-53 2012-41 2012-34 Jan -53-33 July -22-28 -36 Jan -22-35 Jul -16-17 PERIOD ASKED ABOUT FOR PAST BUSINESS PERFORMANCE : Mid-ember until the end of October / : Mid-July up until the end of the summer holidays/ Jul : After Easter holidays up until mid-july / : Easter period / Jan : Christmas and New Year period Q3/4, Q7/8 12
Visitor numbers: Year-on-year changes by accommodation type Down Slightly down Same Slightly up Up The majority of hotels continue to see increases in visitors for this latest period, and for the yearto-date 83% and 80% respectively. Although not faring quite as strongly as hotels, at least half of all B&Bs, self-catering and caravan/campsites have reported that visitor numbers are up for this latest period, and also for the year-to-date. % Hotels % B&B % % Self catering 5 1 10 22 10 61 9 3 9 70 10 7 25 21 11 47 16 2 7 55 18 6 24 18 2 20 8 52 Caravan/ Camping 16 5 4 23 22 6 20 52 YTD YTD YTD YTD Q3/4, Q7/8 PERIOD ASKED ABOUT FOR PAST BUSINESS PERFORMANCE : Mid-ember until the end of October
Changing business performance: By accommodation type & bed spaces All business types have performed better over this latest period compared with the same time last year particularly larger businesses with hotels reporting their most successful period since pre-. As a result, satisfaction levels are higher than they were in. ACCOMMODATION TYPE 32 15 42 % Visitors up on last year 53 44 26 Jul 73 77 56 50 50 39 29 36 33 Jan 59 25 51 66 37 28 Jul 50 41 78 83 58 52 Hotel Guest / B&B Self catering Caravan / camping % Very Satisfied 46 16 Jul 39 56 50 32 39 Jan 27 57 Jul 25 65 59 41 BED SPACES % Visitors up on last year 31 25 27 60 45 56 36 71 46 82 61 58 57 61 58 46 43 53 70 44 48 30 47 40 29 39 45 Up to 10 bedspaces 11-100 bedspaces Over 100 bedspaces 23 19 % Very satisfied 63 58 34 49 41 39 34 37 52 49 43 33 66 59 55 45 Jul Jan Jul Jul Jan Jul Q3/4, Q6
Changing business performance: By accommodation location The clement weather during this latest period may have influenced visitor figures, particularly amongst seaside and city businesses, with the highest proportion of seaside businesses reporting visitor increases since pre-il. Although satisfaction levels have dropped for businesses in all locations except small town, they are still higher than reported at this time last year. % Visitors up on last year % Very satisfied 25 21 42 52 30 5459 51 63 56 49 44 44 45 45 33 37 68 46 40 54 70 67 68 52 Seaside Large town or city Small town Countryside / village 57 34 20 17 62 39 46 25 50 31 40 31 59 63 46 44 July Jan Jul July Jan Jul Q3/4, Q6 15
Visitor Numbers: Year-on-year changes (%) Accommodation businesses have fared well during the post-summer holiday period, resulting in a 5% increase in visitor numbers overall. This in turn has buoyed year-to-date figures, with an overall increase in visitors of 4% for the year to date compared with last year. % YTD 11 27 27 10 9-5 -6-6 -5-2 -2-2 -0.5-1 Increase Over 50% 31-50% 21-30% 11-20% 5-10% Less than 5% Decrease Less than 5% 5-10% 11-20% 21-30% 31-50% Over 50% Average % change In visitor numbers 5% 4% Q5, 9 PERIOD ASKED ABOUT FOR PAST BUSINESS PERFORMANCE : Mid-ember until the end of October 16
Visitor numbers: Degree of year-on-year changes by accommodation type The hotel sector continues to fare the best, seeing an 8% increase in visitors both for the latest period and for the year so far. All other accommodation types have also seen increases in visitors, although self-catering have reported slightly less for this latest period compared with others. Increase Over 50% Hotels 11 YTD 20 B&B 6 12 YTD 1 5 31-50% 21-30% 11-20% 5-10% Less than 5% 41 30 9 10-2 -3-4 -4-2 24 28 7 9-4 -6-6 -2-5 -1-1 Decrease Less than 5% 8% 8% 5% 5% 5-10% 11-20% 21-30% 31-50% Over 50% Average % change Self catering 6 10 YTD 6 10 23 25 8 10-9 -9-8 -5-2 -1-1 Caravan/ Camping YTD 31 6 10 21 25 17 7-5 -6-5 -4-7 -2-1 3% 5% 4% 4% Q5, 9 PERIOD ASKED ABOUT FOR PAST BUSINESS PERFORMANCE : Mid-ember until the end of October 17
Positive verbatim comments on business performance: Accommodation We had a refurbishment in the reception area which has lead to more positive feedback and recommendations. The rooms are full and the restaurant is doing well The number of leisure guests are increasing which benefits us There have been more business trips staying with us in comparison to last year Our accommodation is located close the National Trail and that has noticeably benefited business performance. Q11 18
Negative verbatim comments on business performance: Accommodation There have been less weddings this year than last year which has really affected our business Slow, partly due to the weather and also booking.com, Late Rooms and last minute services dominate bookings now and we don't use them and it affects our business The place where we are situated is not that good anymore (it) is not being looked after that well Not very good performance due to the weather Q11 19
Case Studies Flackley Ash Hotel Increase in domestic and overseas visitors for the year-to-date compared with last year. Very confident for the forthcoming period. 3 star hotel situated on the outskirts of Rye 45 individually styled rooms We ve had a change of menu, new promotions and more advertising which has helped business. Christmas is already looking better than last year Lower Campscott Farm Cottages Increase in visitors for the year-to-date period of 30-50% 2 star self-catering business in North Devon 6 cottages and lodges Having good reviews on Trip Advisor and lots of previous guests returning has boosted business. We ve had lots of positive feedback, but additionally we ensure we keep our website and social media pages up to date 20
Future Performance 21
Advance booking levels: Accommodation Advance booking levels have dipped since the period, which might be expected at this time of year, but are higher than at this same time last year, when % of businesses said booking levels were very good compared with 21% this year. % Very poor Poor Just OK Good Very good 10 21 35 24 9 6 30 37 2 5 6 6 6 3 1 5 3 6 6 6 9 15 18 20 22 24 27 27 32 35 36 35 45 39 32 33 34 37 39 21 24 28 21 12 Survey conducted: Period asked about: Jan Until the end of Easter Until late Spring / early Summ er Jul- July Until end of summe r hols Until end of October Until end of the year Jan- - Jul- Sep- - Until the end of Easter Until late Spring / early Summ er Until end of summe r hols Until end of October Until end of the year Q15 22
Confidence for forthcoming period: By accommodation type Confidence levels, are higher for all business types than at this same time last year hotels maintaining summer confidence levels. Advance bookings are markedly down amongst caravan/campsites on the approach to the Winter season at their lowest level since pre-jan. CONFIDENCE: For period up until the end of the year % Very confident 47 31 36 25 30 27 26 12 57 55 44 36 36 35 35 33 39 36 26 27 21 20 58 60 52 42 41 36 32 Jan July Jan Jul Hotel Guest house / B&B Self catering Caravan / camping ADVANCE BOOKINGS 44 27 % Very / fairly good 73 60 47 78 50 43 66 59 35 77 63 84 85 74 62 60 52 75 50 25 Hotel Guest house / B&B Self catering Caravan / camping Jan July Jan Jul Q, 15 23
Confidence & bookings for forthcoming period: By accommodation size Smaller businesses have seen a drop in confidence from last period, but levels are still higher than this time last year. Advanced booking levels and confidence are both higher than in ember last year, regardless of business size, although larger businesses are faring the best for both measures. CONFIDENCE: For period up until the end of the year % Very confident 62 61 51 44 52 49 47 46 37 40 29 26 46 42 41 29 45 46 28 37 26 35 33 24 23 23 20 10 Jan July Jan Jul Up to 10 bedspaces 11-100 bedspaces Over 100 bedspaces ADVANCE BOOKINGS 36 39 25 45 51 47 % Very/ fairly good 66 73 62 56 77 46 5554 40 32 34 78 83 68 71 59 70 71 63 64 62 43 47 Up to 10 bedspaces 11-100 bedspaces Over 100 bedspaces Jan July Jan Jul Q, 15 24
Confidence for forthcoming period: By location Unsurprisingly perhaps for this time of year, advanced booking and confidence levels have dropped off from last period amongst businesses in more rural and seaside locations, but levels of both are higher than they were at this same time last year. CONFIDENCE: For period up until the end of the year % Very confident 44 51 5745 39 32 35 31 30 31 23 30 24 36 27 33 27 22 20 20 61 64 53 49 51 49 47 50 43 43 46 Jan July Jan Jul Seaside Large town or city Small town Countryside / village ADVANCE BOOKINGS % Very/ fairly good Seaside 67 74 78 67 49 7261 52 35 53 56 42 33 63 62 45 46 43 36 34 79 82 70 80 64 72 83 57 69 54 48 Large town or city Small town Countryside / village Jan July Jan Jul Q, 15 25
Positive verbatim comments on business confidence: Accommodation I think it is going to be a good end of the year, strong performance - the economy seems to be improving, and we have a lot of conference guests booked in We ve just started to advertise more and so I think we are going to get more customers in Very good we ve got lots of repeat business coming in and people go off the good reviews for us on trip advisor I think we'll have a successful end of the year because the bookings are already up compared to last year and we're getting a lot more enquiries Q19 26
Negative verbatim comments on business confidence: Accommodation The market is becoming much busier which makes it harder for us to compete The weather is a big factor - if people think its going to snow they will cancel, and the potential of bad weather is much stronger in the upcoming weeks Its not looking very good because fewer people seem to be coming to Blackpool The increasing cost of ferries to and from the accommodation affects the business because the accommodation is located on the Isle of Wight. Q19 27
Business optimism for Business optimism has remained relatively unchanged from, and is a slight improvement on this time last year with 60% now feeling that this year will be better than the last. % Much worse than Slightly worse than 7 5 4 2 1 4 3 2 3 2 7 7 9 15 15 36 34 26 31 25 28 30 31 42 The same as 33 36 36 40 40 36 41 Slightly better than 26 11 17 21 19 18 16 17 20 22 Much better than July Jan Jul Q16 28
Rugby World Cup 29
Rugby World Cup awareness Almost 2 in 5 businesses overall say they are definitely aware of the Rugby World Cup, and this unsurprisingly rises to 1 in 2 amongst businesses within Rugby World Cup regions; demonstrating its on their businesses radar. % All 35 37 Definitely aware of event Have heard about it, but don't know any details 28 Was not aware of this event before now RWC areas* Non-RWC areas 26 50 36 35 24 29 Q16 *RWC areas defined as counties where matches are being played 30
Awareness of Rugby World Cup games or affiliated events in area Of those aware of the Rugby World Cup, 1 in 5 were definitely aware of any RWC games or affiliated events in their area. This rose to almost half of those in Rugby World Cup areas. % All 35 21 44 Definitely aware of event Not aware, but haven't looked into it There are no Rugby World Cup events in my area RWC areas* Non-RWC areas 21 48 16 30 46 Q16 *RWC areas defined as counties where matches are being played 31
Enquiries and booking levels The vast majority of businesses (85%) are reporting that enquiries and booking levels are the same as usual for the Rugby World Cup period next year. However, more businesses (albeit a small proportion) in Rugby World Cup areas are reporting more enquires/bookings than usual for that period than those in non-rugby World Cup areas, suggesting that the Rugby World Cup may already be having a direct influence on accommodation bookings. % All RWC areas* Non-RWC areas 7 More than usually expected 9 6 85 Same as usual 86 85 7 Less than usually expected 2 8 Q16 *RWC areas defined as counties where matches are being played 32
Performance and confidence snapshot: ember Visitor Numbers (ember) Confidence (End of the year) Type (%) Bed-spaces (%) Grading (%) Location (%) Up Same Down Very Very / fairly TOTAL (%) 62 21 17 42 87 Hotel 83 10 7 60 97 Guest / B&B 58 25 17 42 87 Self catering 52 24 24 32 86 Caravan / camping 58 23 19 36 82 Up to 10 45 29 26 37 86 11-100 70 18 11 40 87 Over 100 82 9 9 61 94 5 star 80 10 10 44 88 4 star 64 21 15 40 86 1-3 star 61 22 16 46 86 Budget / other 55 23 22 40 89 Seaside 70 20 10 43 83 Large town / city 74 49 91 Small town 68 18 51 89 Rural 54 24 22 88 34