tourism business monitor 2015 accommodation reporttourism business monitor 2015 accommodation report...

Wave 1 – Christmas and New Year period

Tourism Business Monitor 2015 Accommodation Report

Tourism Business Monitor designed to measure, monitor and understand tourism business performance and

confidence and the factors which influence them.

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:

Jan 2015: 5-9 Jan 2015, reviewing the Christmas and New Year period 2014

Nov 2014: 3-9 Nov 2014, reviewing mid-September until the end of October

Sept 2014: 8-14 Sept 2014, reviewing the period from mid-July up until the end of the summer holidays

July 2014: 14-20 July 2014, reviewing the period after the Easter holidays up until mid-July

Apr 2014: 24 Apr-1 May 2014, reviewing the Easter period 2014

Jan 2014: 6-12 January 2014, reviewing the Christmas and New Year period 2013

Nov 2013: 4-10 Nov 2013, reviewing mid-September until the end of October

Sept 2013: 9-14 Sept 2013, reviewing the period from mid-July up until the end of the summer holidays

Jul 2013: 11-19 July 2013, reviewing the period after the Easter holidays up until mid-July

Apr 2013: 15-21 April 2013, reviewing the period from January until the end of the Easter holidays

Jan 2013: 7-13 January 2013, reviewing the Christmas and New Year period 2012

2

Background, objectives and research method

Accommodation sample targets (total 500)

3

Serviced Accommodation Non-serviced Accommodation

% 100 Hotels 150 Guest

Houses / B&Bs 150 Self-catering

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.

Please note: Self-catering sample for Wave 1 2015 was reduced to 100 businesses.

Key Findings

4

Overall, 2014 has been a good year for accommodation businesses, with growth in domestic, overseas and repeat visitors.

Camp/caravan sites in particular report growth from domestic visitors, although this may be associated with a difficult year in

2013.

Year on year increases in visitor numbers slowed slightly over the Christmas period (down from 5% to 4%), but still contributed

to an overall annual increase in guests of 6%.

The hotel sector continues to fare the best, with an uplift in visitor numbers of 9% in 2014. B&Bs sales improved to 7% across

the whole year, although growth slowed over Christmas. Non-serviced accommodation reported more modest annual increases

in guests.

Over a third (34%) of accommodation businesses closed over the Christmas and New Year period in 2014. Amongst those who

stayed open, the Christmas and New Year period was less buoyant than the rest of the year, but there was an improvement in

visitor numbers compared with 2013.

Advance booking levels have dipped since the summer, which is to be expected, but are slightly higher than at this same time

last year.

Business confidence tends to be lower for all accommodation types at this time of the year, but most sectors (self-catering

aside) remain relatively optimistic for the period up to Easter 2015, bolstered by healthy advance bookings.

Optimism continues into the rest of 2015 and businesses are planning increases in investment. The principal investment of

accommodation businesses in 2015 will again be in facilities and fittings, with around half planning on investing more in this

area. There is a trend emerging for more investment in staff, with 21% intending to increase spend on training vs. only 9% in

2013. Deals and discounts appear to be less of a focus this year.

Business Dashboard

5

46 47

42 45

11 5 2 2

Jan-15 2014

Visitor numbers (%)

55

50

39

68

30

31

32

13

15

19

29

19

50 64

29 16

22 20

Jan-15 2014

Visitor numbers (%)

Business Performance Dashboard: Accommodation

6

Q3/4, Q6, 7/8, 10. Asked of those who were open during the period

Down

Same

Up

Versus same period

previous year…

Satisfied with business

performance…

Not at all

Not very

Quite

Very

Satisfaction with Performance during period (%)

Visitor numbers for Christmas and New Year 2014 period compared with same period 2013 (%)

VISITOR NUMBERS

SATISFACTION

Hotels

Guest house /

B&B

Self catering

Caravan /

camping

55

47

38

48

43

41

39

46

98

88

78

93

Hotels

Guest house /

B&B

Self catering

Caravan /

camping

PERIOD ASKED ABOUT FOR PAST BUSINESS PERFORMANCE

Jan 2015: Christmas and New Year period 2014

18

41 32 28 32 25 26 23

46 38 29 29

38 48 49 42

32

63

42 47

46 50

48 44 55

43 48

52 54 52

43 42 45

54

81 83 79 74

82 73 70

78

89 86 81 83

90 91 92 87 86

Jan2012

Easter2012

June2012

July2012

Sept2012

Nov2012

Jan2013

Apr2013

July2013

Sept2013

Nov2013

Jan2014

Apr2014

Jul2014

Sept2014

Nov2014

Jan2015

Business Confidence Dashboard: Accommodation

46 35

17 35

48 52

61

53

95 87

78 87

7 Q13

PERIOD ASKED ABOUT FOR FUTURE BUSINESS CONFIDENCE

Jan 2015: Up until end of Easter

Very confident Fairly confident

Hotels Guest house / B&B Self catering Caravan / camping

Jan 2015

Visitor Profile

8

Changing Visitor Profile (year-to-date vs. previous year): Accommodation

9

NET: Up - Down

Q12

Domestic visitors

Overseas visitors

Repeat visitors

+37

+31

+43

Up Down

22 15

26

38 34

29

20

31 38

30 39

30 35

22 16

24 23

25

19 14

18 8

Jan 13 Apr 13 Jul 13 Sept 13 Nov 13 Jan 14 Apr 14 Jul 14 Sept 14 Nov 14 Jan 15

27

15

27

39 43

36 34 30

36 38 46

29

44

23 18 17

13 19 19

12 11 9


37

23

39 38 39 46

34 33 38

45 51

10

24

10 9 7 8 9 9 4 3

8



Jan 2015: The whole of 2014

Up Same Down

Changing Visitor Profile (vs. previous year): Accommodation type

10

Overall, 2014 has been a good year for accommodation businesses, with growth in domestic, overseas and repeat

visitors. Camp/caravan sites in particular report year on year growth from domestic visitors, although this may be

associated with a difficult year in 2013.

52

41

33

26

43

47

62

61

5

11

5

13

Hotels

Guest Houses / B&Bs

Self-Catering

Caravan / Camping

Overseas visitors (2014)

52

30

29

47

47

30

28

13

55

38

31

61

Q12

56

38

41

55

40

53

47

37

4

8

12

8

Hotels

Guest Houses / B&Bs

Self-Catering

Caravan / Camping

Domestic visitors (2014)

Domestic visitors

Overseas visitors

Repeat visitors

58

44

45

64

39

50

41

33

3

6

14

3

Hotels

Guest Houses / B&Bs

Self-Catering

Caravan / Camping

Repeat visitors (2014)

NET: Up - Down

Past Performance

11

Visitor numbers: Year-on-year changes

12

35

59

15

4

29

16

5

4

17

16

Jan 2015

2014 as a

whole

32 28

44 55 52

38 43 44 55

61 50

-34

-53

-33 -22

-28 -36

-22 -35

-16 -17 -22

Up

Slightly up

Exactly same

Slightly down

Down

%

The Christmas and New Year period was less buoyant than the rest of the year, but overall businesses still reported an

improvement in visitor numbers compared with 2013.

Q3/4, Q7/8

PERIODS ASKED ABOUT FOR PAST BUSINESS PERFORMANCE

Jan: Christmas and New Year period / Apr: Easter period / Jul: After Easter holidays up until mid-July /Sept: Mid-July up until the end of the

summer holidays / Nov: Mid-September until the end of October

Jan 2013

Apr 2013

July 2013

Sept 2013

Nov 2013

Jan 2014

Apr 2014

Jul 2014

Sept 2014

Nov 2014

Up

Down

Jan 2015

Visitor numbers: Year-on-year changes by accommodation type

Hotels have had the most successful year in 2014, with only 7% of hotels reporting a decline in visitor

numbers.

13 Q3/4, Q7/8

%


Jan 2015: Christmas and New Year period

Down

Slightly down

Exactly same

Slightly up

Up

Hotels Guest house / B&B Self catering Caravan / camping

49

75

34

61

22

45 42

66

6

7

16

6

17

2

26

3 30

11

31

22

32 20

13 8

1

4

3

9 6

3 5

14 3

16 11

20 27

16 19

Jan 2015 2014 Jan-15 2014 Jan-15 2014 Jan-15 2014

27 36

46 40

30 29 39 47 45 39

31

45 56 58 43

48 44

61 70

55

25

60 71

61 46

57 58

53

82

65

Apr

13

Jul

13

Sept

13

Nov

13

Jan

14

Apr

14

Jul

14

Sept

14

Nov

14

Jan

15

39

19

34

49

34 37

49

33

59

45

49

23

58 63

41 39

52

43

66

55 56

Apr

13

Jul

13

Sept

13

Nov

13

Jan

14

Apr

14

Jul

14

Sept

14

Nov

14

Jan

15

42

53

73 77

50 59

66 78 83

55 50

32

26

39 29 33

25

37

41

52 39

15

44 56 50

36 51

28

50 58 68

Apr

13

Jul

13

Sept

13

Nov

13

Jan

14

Apr

14

Jul

14

Sept

14

Nov

14

Jan

15

Changing business performance: By accommodation type & bed spaces

14 Q3/4, Q6

The campsite sector continues to strengthen, with two thirds reporting an improvement in visitor numbers for the Christmas and

New Year period. Hotels remain satisfied with their performance, although fewer exceeded the previous year’s visitor numbers

than in recent periods.

46 55

56

39

27

47

65

38

16

39

50

32

38

57

25

59

41

48

Apr

13

Jul

13

Sept

13

Nov

13

Jan

14

Apr

14

Jul

14

Sept

14

Nov

14

Jan

15

% Visitors up on last year

ACCOMMODATION TYPE

BED SPACES

% Very Satisfied

% Visitors up on last year % Very Satisfied

Hotels

Guest house /

B&B

Self catering

Caravan /

camping

Up to 10

bed spaces

11 – 100

Bed spaces

Over 100

bed spaces



9 10

19

30

9

12

4

5

2

2

3

-9 -8

-6 -8 -1 -1 -2 -2

Visitor Numbers: Year-on-year changes (%)

16

Year on year increases in visitor numbers slowed slightly over the Christmas period (down from 5% to 4%), but still contributed

to an overall annual increase in guests of 6%.

4%

Q5, 9

Average % change

In visitor numbers

Jan 2015

%

6%

2014 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%



Jan

2015 Jan

2015

Jan

2015 Jan

2015

Visitor numbers: Degree of year-on-year changes by accommodation type

17

The hotel sector continues to fare the best, with an uplift in visitor numbers of 9% in 2014. B&Bs sales improved to 7%

across the whole year, although growth slowed during the Christmas period. Non-serviced accommodation reported more

modest annual increases in guests.

Q5, 9

6 12

28

40 8

15

5

5

1

-9 -4 -3

-3

8 10 17

31 13 4

4 4

3

-5 -1 -3 -8 -1 -1 -1 -2 -5

2014

2014

2014

2014

3% 7% 5% 9%

Average %

change

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%

Hotels Guest house / B&B

Self catering Caravan / camping 11 13 10

17 8 7 3 5 3 1

-13 -17 -10 -11 -1

-2 -4

15 2

31 44

8 15 8 5 5

-5 -5 -8 -10

-5 -2 -3

-3



6% 4% 3% 3%

Positive verbatim comments on business performance: Accommodation

18

“ “

Q11

We are being more flexible in taking short bookings. Because we live on

site we’re able to clean and prepare the holiday cottages quickly.

I think the reason we had a strong Christmas was due to better

marketing, starting earlier.

People have confidence in their situation with more money in their

pockets and more confidence to spend that money.

We have had lots of Christmas parties.

Probably Christmas shopping – we have more leisure visitors around this

time.

It’s our great customer service. We try to make sure everything is as our

guests need it.

People are being careful with their money – you can see they aren’t

spending as much as they used to.

People don’t want to spend as much money around Christmas; The Euro

against the pound is a bad exchange rate.

We never work over the Christmas period as it’s family time.

We shut for maintenance over Christmas, and our planning regulations

say we have to shut.

We just felt that all the staff deserved the time off. We only opened on

New Year’s Eve as that the day we make the most money.

Negative verbatim comments on business performance: Accommodation

19

“ “

Q11

Case Studies

20

• 4 star self catering accommodation

• 5 properties (21 bed spaces)

Guest numbers increased by 31-50% in 2014

compared with the previous year, with a

particularly strong Christmas and New Year

period.

Carole Quanbrough, manager of Carrmount Estate

accommodation told us “even in this age of

technology people still prefer a personal touch, so I

always try to put myself in the guests’ shoes. We aim

to give a home from home experience, and I think

that’s why we get so many repeat visitors”.

Carole achieves this personal touch by paying

attention to the little things that can have a big

impact. For example, personally meeting all guests

with homemade cakes and a pre-boiled kettle, and

calling guests a few days before their arrival to

see if there’s anything they need – whether it be a cot

or a Christmas tree!

Investment in marketing (for inclusion on Yorkshire

Holiday Cottages website) has helped to boost the

number of new guests in 2014, and has proved to be

a good investment even once the site fees have been

accounted for.

CARRMOUNT ESTATE (North Yorkshire)

Future Performance

21

Advance booking levels: Accommodation

%

9 13

37

21 14 12

24

39

28 21

16

24

37

36

38

33 34

45

35

39

32 37

35

30

18

27

32 35

22 20

24

27 33

21

14

6 9

15 13

6 5

6

13 10

10 6 2 5 6 6 3 1 3 6 4

Jan2013

Apr2013

Jul-13 Sept2013

Nov2013

Jan-14 Apr-14 Jul-14 Sep-14 Nov-14 Jan-15

Very poor

Poor

Just OK

Good

Very good

Advance booking levels have dipped since the summer, which is expected, but are slightly higher than at this same time last

year.

22 Q14

Survey conducted:

Jan 2013

Apr 2013

July 2013

Sept 2013

Nov 2013

Jan 2014

Apr 2014

Jul 2014

Sept 2014

Nov 2014

Jan 2015

Period asked about:

Until the end of Easter

Until late Spring/ early

Summer

Until end of

summer hols

Until end of

October

Until end of

the year


Until late Spring/ early

Summer

Until end of

summer hols

Until end of

October

Until end of the year


44

60

73 78

66 59

77 84 85

75 78

27

47 50

38 35

63

74

62

50

40

27

49

70 60

33 33

60

77 66

50

39 31 35

72

43 35 38

66

60

52

25

64

Jan 13 Apr 13 July 13 Sept 13 Nov 13 Jan 14 Apr 14 Jul 14 Sept 14 Nov 14 Jan 15

30

31 36

57

36

44

55 58 60

46

27

35

52

42

35

25

26

36

21 20

32

17

27

12

47

26

35

36 39

41 36 35


Confidence for forthcoming period: By accommodation type

23

Confidence levels tend to be lower for all business types at this time of the year, but most sectors (self-catering aside) remain

relatively optimistic. Advance bookings fairly healthy, with camp/caravan sites doing particularly well compared with the previous

year.

Q14, 13

CONFIDENCE: For period up until the end of Easter

ADVANCED BOOKINGS: From now until the end of Easter

% Very confident

% Very good / good

Hotels

Guest house / B&B

Self catering

Caravan / camping

Hotels

Guest house / B&B

Self catering

Caravan / camping

23

26

51

41

23 20

38

46

37

19

29

24

42 35

29 28

33

45 46

40

40 26

10

46

44 47

37

49

62

52 61

46


25

47

73

54

32 34

59 70 64

43

30

36

51 66

55

46

40

68 71

63

47

66

39

45

77

62 56

78 83

71 62

77



Confidence & bookings for forthcoming period: By accommodation size

24

Smaller businesses (with up to 10 bed spaces) have seen a drop in confidence from last period, associated with lower

levels of advance bookings.

Up to 10

bed spaces

11 – 100

Bed spaces

Over 100

bed spaces


% Very confident

% Very good/ good

Up to 10

bed spaces

11 – 100

Bed spaces

Over 100

bed spaces

Q14, 13

33

61

56 43 38

80

48 51

49

67 74

63 62

79 82 69

67

35 53

78 67

45 46

70

72

83

54 52

42

72 52

36 34

64 57

49



Confidence for forthcoming period: By location

25

Businesses tend to report fewer advanced bookings at this time of year, but report fairly healthy books moving into the new

year. However, the confidence of small town accommodation businesses has declined.


% Very confident

% Very good / good

30

45

31

32

53

49 43

32 35

31

44 39 51

61 64

49

43

22

24

57

38

27

30 47 50

51

23

23

20

36 27

20

33

43 46 38 31


Seaside

Large town

or city

Small town

Countryside /

village

Seaside

Large town

or city

Small town

Countryside /

village

Q14, 13

Positive verbatim comments on business confidence: Accommodation

26

Reasonable because we have already got booking in hand - we usually have

bookings for between January and February but we already some for Easter.

Quite positive for the next two to three months as bookings look strong and

we've had good feedback from a recent advertising campaign.

Good because our business runs off repeat custom. We are number one on trip

advisor for our area and we have a very good website. The repeat customers

support recruitment of new customers because they leave Trip Advisor

comments.

The fact that it has been a mild winter gives us better prospects and there are

some local factors such as us being in Wembley - so we do well when Wembley

has an event.

“ “

Q18

Not very good. Business has just dropped and dropped as we cater for the

lower end of the market. Before we used to cater for people who wanted to

spend one to two weeks, but I think people want shorter breaks now.

The business prospect for country properties is poor during winter months

because of the weather and that will influence my bookings over the next

coming months until Easter.

There aren't many bookings in there at the moment and we're going through

quite a quiet period - December to January is always quiet.

Negative verbatim comments on business confidence: Accommodation

27

“ “

Q18

Business optimism for 2015: Accommodation

28

11 17

21 19 18 16 17 20 22 16

26

33

36 36 40 40 36

41 38 44

42

31 25 28

36 34

30

26 31 35

14 15 15 14

4 7

14 9 7

3 7 5 4 2 1 3 2 3 2 1

Apr

2013

July

2013

Sept

2013

Nov

2013

Jan

2014

Apr

2014

Jul

2014

Sept

2014

Nov

2014

Jan

2015

Business optimism has remained relatively unchanged from Sept ’14, although fewer businesses expect a decline in

visitor numbers.

%

Much worse

Slightly worse

The same

Slightly better

Much better

Q15

Comparison with previous year

Positive verbatim comments on business optimism for 2015: Accommodation

29

We’ve started using a new online booking system.

I think people are a little more relaxed about the state of the economy.

If the economy continues to improve as they say, more and more people will

come out. With the General Election the government might spend a little more

to increase the feel good factor.

We’re expecting more weddings this year than last.

We are a very well established business, so are always busy, so our numbers

will stay the same, but we expect to be able to charge more this year.

We’ve had a lot of bookings come in already.

“ “

Q15b

Planned business changes

30

Planned business changes in the coming year: Accommodation

31 Q18a

9 17 21

86 79 74

1 1 1 4 3 4

2013 2014 2015

The principal investment of accommodation businesses in 2015 will again be in facilities and fittings, with around half

planning on investing more in this area. There is a trend emerging for more investment in staff, with 21% intending to

increase spend on training vs. only 9% in 2013.

40 52 48

55 42 47

5 2 2

0 4 3

2013 2014 2015

22 31 27

70 61

64

6 3 4 2 5 5

2013 2014 2015

17 18 14

79 71 78

1 4 2

3 7 6

2013 2014 2015

Don't know

Decrease

No Change

Increase

Staff

training

Investment in

facilities/fittings

Marketing

investment

Deals and

discounts

Planned business changes in the coming year: Staff training

32 Q18a

51

14 9 22

-2 -1 -1

Hotel B&B Self-

catering

Caravan/

camping

21

46

20 16

-2 -2

Seaside Large

town/

city

Small

town

Countryside

/village

8

30 35

-1 -1

Large, city based hotels are the most likely to increase investment in staff training. 1 in 5 caravan/camping sites are

planning on increasing investment in staff training also.

Up to 10

bed

spaces

11-100

bed

spaces

Over 100

bed

spaces

Increase

Decrease

Planned business changes in the coming year: Investment in facilities/fittings

33 Q18a

56 43 45 50

-3 -2 -1 -1

Hotel B&B Self-

catering

Caravan/

camping

51 52 60

42

-1 -5 -2 -1

Seaside Large

town/

city

Small

town

Countryside

/village

38

56 54

-2 -2

Up to 10

bed

spaces

11-100

bed

spaces

Over 100

bed

spaces

Intention to increase investment in infrastructure across the board.

Increase

Decrease

Planned business changes in the coming year: Marketing investment

34 Q18a

39

22 27 23

-1 -3 -7 -1

Hotel B&B Self-

catering

Caravan/

camping

34 34 26 22

-4 -2 -8 -3

Seaside Large

town/

city

Small

town

Countryside

/village

20 31

37

-6 -3

Plans to invest in marketing in 2014 are apparent across the board, particularly amongst larger businesses and hotels.

Up to 10

bed

spaces

11-100

bed

spaces

Over 100

bed

spaces

Increase

Decrease

Planned business changes in the coming year: Discounts and deals for your business

35 Q18a

30

11 8 11

-5 -3 -1 -2

Hotel B&B Self-

catering

Caravan/

camping

11 21 16 13

-2 -5 -3

Seaside Large

town/

city

Small

town

Countryside

/village

8 19 18

-1 -4 -4

Almost a third of hotels are planning increases in deals/ discounts in 2015, but this is less of a focus for the other

accommodation sectors.

Up to 10

bed

spaces

11-100

bed

spaces

Over 100

bed

spaces

Increase

Decrease

Performance and confidence snapshot: January 2015

37

Visitor Numbers

(Christmas & New Year

period 2014) Confidence

(End of Easter 2015)

Up Same Down Very Very / fairly

TOTAL (%) 50 29 22 32 86

Type (%)

Hotel 55 30 15 46 95

Guest / B&B 50 31 19 35 87

Self catering 39 32 29 17 78

Caravan / camping 68 13 19 35 87

Bed-spaces (%)

Up to 10 39 35 26 19 76

11-100 55 25 20 40 94

Over 100 65 21 14 46 92

Grading (%)

5 star 73 23 4 55 89

4 star 47 37 16 27 86

1-3 star 46 23 30 32 87

Budget / other 48 26 26 29 85

Location (%)

Seaside 42 24 34 32 87

Large town / city 59 26 15 43 90

Small town 46 35 19 23 79

Rural 51 30 19 31 86

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