2009 a most interesting year - by Malcolm Bell

2009 was lined up to be a bumper year where domestic tourism would boom. This was then reinforced by the Met Office forecasting we were odds on for a barbecue summer. However, with weekly stories of rising unemployment, constant reminders to consumers to be more responsible with their spending, tips on how to save money, plus the weather being far from barbecue in the main summer season, has meant a very interesting year so far.

Although we have seen strong growth on the numbers in certain sectors, such as camping, other sectors have not experienced any real increase in numbers and have had to hold prices to last year's levels - by offering deals, discounting and absorbing additional costs. Therefore, even with numbers being relatively strong, the fact that the average spend and length of stay is down means (as far as the overall bottom line is concerned) it looks like the bumper year predictions were overly optimistic by the media.

The trend which we are now seeing from our anecdotal research and monthly business snapshot results is showing that the rest of the year is looking to be OK but certainly not bumper in terms of profits and could even be down on previous years for a significant number of businesses.  This is combined with the banks reducing their levels of lending and cutting overdraft limits, consequently generating a reduction in investment this winter and throughout 2010.

A worrying prediction you might think? As without investment and reinvestment in the product, the great strides in quality improvement over the last decade could falter and even reverse over time. I believe that one of the prices we are paying for the overly optimistic bumper stories in the media is the reaction of the Government to call for support. With everything else on their plates, the attitude is that tourism is doing fine and will have a bumper year meaning it needs no additional support. In fact, this misunderstanding of how well tourism is doing may well lead to the Government cutting support at national, regional and local level across most of the country - which South West Tourism are lobbying against.

We will need to market hard next year including promotion of the main season; the region and its destinations and this will need public funding. However, it should be remembered that public investment in marketing does bring a positive return for the Treasury from additional VAT payments, tax contributions and reductions in unemployment payments by those recruited by the industry.

 

Conclusion

We now need a good autumn and winter, even though the weather over the last few weeks will have made some of our potential customers look overseas to catch the sun. We also have the news of the highest levels of unemployment, with predictions of 3 to 4 million unemployed in the future, plus pay restraints, cuts and the Bank of England's verdict on the economy being less than rosy. Subsequently, meaning we will all have to work very hard to make 2010 a good year. This is despite this summer's weather, lack of Government support and the over hyped ‘bumper year' media headlines, let alone the outbound industries drive to recapture their 2009 lost customers, 2010 could be a far tougher year than 2009.

 

What this means for your business

It's not all doom and gloom however, as there are always opportunities to be made even in a recession. Now is the time to make the most out of the situation by being proactive, innovative and implementing new ideas into your business plans. 

 

So what do you need to do to safe guard your business? 

Read our top tips, and quick ideas for your business that you can implement now, click here.

 

What else can you do

• Marketing update - regional and national opportunities
• Is your business accessible?
• Customer Service courses - vital for any business and even more so in a recession
• Planning, regulation and legislation news for your business
• School holiday planning dates

 

Feedback

We are always interested to hear your feedback regarding how the season is shaping up for you as each business will be experiencing different trends.  Perhaps bookings are up, and if so you might want to share your ideas on securing bookings, or business might be down or remaining the same as compared to last year, so please share your comments below.

Date added: Wednesday 19th August 2009
Latest updated: Thursday 8th March 2012