Staycationers set to flock to Britain’s beauty spots
Accommodating tourists may be the last thing on your mind this year, but once you understand the rising demand for staycations, you may rethink your stance.
If you’re the owner of land or located near a prime beauty spot, it is time to view holidaymakers as an untapped resource for your own business. Perhaps you already have rooms or pop-up accommodation but are uncertain as to the best way to expand capacity, especially given how strict current guidelines are. With COVID-19 decimating the hospitality industry, more and more businesses and landowners are broadening their offering to capture some of the UK tourism income that is set to surge in the coming months.
It’s easier to do than you think and it’s now or never for businesses and outdoor venues to act. Here at Caboose & Co., we’ve had an influx of enquiries about our temporary accommodation fleet. We advise everyone the same – think about your location, your site and the current climate.
According to VisitBritain, inbound tourism to the UK has dropped by 74%. That’s £23.8 billion less being spent, which means fewer international guests booking accommodation. For the UK’s tourism industry to survive, it’s imperative that people opt for staycations, and for staycations to work, there needs to be adequate accommodation. This is where we come in…
Staycations are in demand
How can we be so sure that people will choose to holiday in the UK?
Research undertaken by Schofields Ltd shows that the most common number of days taken at one time for holidays by UK residents is 2-3 days. That’s the perfect amount of time for a staycation, and a lot less than your average holiday abroad! Pre-covid, that was also your average festival duration.
So let’s apply that to activity during the pandemic; 73% of people took no annual leave in April 2020. That’s a lot of days off waiting to be used, and those in the business of accommodation need to be ready to respond to the influx of bookings. Over the next 12 months, it’s safe to say that restriction permitting, people will be chomping at the bit to enjoy a relaxing getaway.
There’s a convenient and effective answer to this rise in accommodation requests. Temporary accommodation.
Still not sure? CitySuites dug deeper and shared that there is an average of 6,600 Google searches made per month in the UK for ‘Staycation’. This peaked to 8,100 searches at the height of the pandemic in the UK. Some hotels haven’t reopened yet, or are operating at reduced capacity. There could be a greater demand for accommodation than what exists, and with that much traffic online it would be silly not to at least consider utilising your land for this holiday ‘trend’ that is set to stay.
Maybe numbers aren’t your thing. Stop anyone in the street or jump on social media and you’ll see that plenty of people are desperate to go on holiday. Citysuites spoke to 2,000 adults about their travel plans and learned that 24.9% prefer to holiday in the UK until there is a Coronavirus vaccine, while 24.7% say they want to travel abroad for a holiday ASAP.
The same survey showed that 17.76% say they prefer Staycations in the UK, regardless of the Coronavirus pandemic. That percentage fits well with Schofield’s research from 2019. They found that 19% of holidays taken last year were self-catering accommodations like holiday cottages. The statistics may be from different surveys, but they support our belief staycations aren’t going anywhere – in fact, they’re only going to increase in popularity.
“Staycations are a fantastic way to support UK businesses and beauty spots. When done correctly, they can be a viable alternative to going abroad and there has never been a better time to put your money back into the country, travel and hospitality sectors” says Tom of Caboose & Co. “We’re excited to have seen a marked increase in enquiries from businesses and landowners about hiring our temporary pods so they can benefit from holidaymakers visiting their area.”
Holiday Hopes
The pandemic doesn’t have to write-off the rest of the year, or the potential of 2021. As long as the public and businesses follow guidelines, staycations can be enjoyed safely. We’ve spoken to many customers who have experienced Caboose’s and then go on to visit other sites and try alternative accommodation. The resounding response is that they’d “rather be in a Caboose!”
The Caboose team used lockdown to anticipate the future staycation demand and to try and alleviate the strain on accommodation providers, event organisers and landowners. The result was the Maverick; a glamping pod that can be installed in just five minutes and can be taken off-grid thanks to its low power requirements.