'VisitBritain' Estimates Extra 5M Domestic Bookings

According to the Metro this morning, 'VisitBritain' is unveiling a £6.5m campaign to encourage Britons to holiday at home this year. This is helped by the weaker pound - as highlighted by Colin Dawson from BALPPA further down this blog. Christopher Rodrigues (VisitBritain Chairman) estimated this could lead to an additional 5m domestic bookings. This would be a real boon for the attractions industry on the back of two wet summers.

The attractions market is looking forward to 2009. No, honestly

A quick snap shot survey to the attractions sector would seem to suggest that operators are relatively optimistic about the year ahead. It would seem that Colin Dawson Chief Exec of BALPPA has his finger on the pulse (scroll down to see video posted in January) when we saw him earlier this year in terms of the sector looking forward to 2009 despite the doom and gloom.


On a scale of 1 – 5 how confident are you about the 2009 season? (1 being not confident and 5 very confident:))

5 13.6%
4 25.0%
3 52.3%
2 13.6%
1 0%

We didn’t ask what the reasons were but certainly a weak pound will help (more stay at home holidaymakers and more tourists) and surely this MUST be a good summer following two back to back stinkers! The old wives tale of hard winters and hot summers must be doing the rounds as we trudge through the snow and sleet.

Good on the attractions sector for their optimism and positive outlook. Many a lesson for other industries there. Let’s hope they are right.