Domestic tourism is set for another strong year, making it one of the few industry sectors to benefit from the recession.

The results of new research shows that 70% of people are likely to book a UK holiday in 2010.

The appeal of domestic holidays also appears to be strengthening with 31% feeling the UK is becoming more appealing as a destination, compared to 25% in 2009 and just 19% in the pre-economic downturn days of 2008.

As many as 39% now claim that they are seriously considering taking their main 2010 holiday in the UK – up 10 percentage points from the same time last year.

The continuing strength of the euro and a growing feeling of disillusion with air travel are at the root of this sustained appeal with holidaying at home, according to market research agency BDRC Continental which conducted the survey amongst 1,005 people earlier this month.

Families are once again at the heart of the ‘staycation’ boom and have been quick to commit to holidaying in the UK again in 2010.

Twenty one per cent of families surveyed had already booked a holiday in the UK for 2010 compared with 14% of those without children.

Families are also more likely than those without children to claim that they will stay in self-catering accommodation and take a seaside/beach holiday.

Findings from BDRC’s “Project Mars,” which has tracked the impact of the recession on the public’s discretionary spending since February 2009, demonstrates that whilst short haul holidays overseas continue to bear the brunt of the recession, visitors will still be placing high emphasis on value for their domestic holidays this year.

Twenty eight per cent of those likely to take a domestic short break and 30% of those likely to take a longer holiday in the UK expect to cut back further on their spending in these areas, providing further opportunities for good value self-catering operators to showcase their services.

But quality needs to be maintained to sustain this revival.

Perceived improvements in tourism service delivery have also been influential in persuading Brits to stay at home.

Among those surveyed who found the UK appealing:

*21% said that standards in hotel and accommodation were improving
*21% said they had seen an improvement in restaurants and catering.

The research company’s tourism“>tourism, travel and leisure team director Steve Mills said: “The UK holiday industry stumbled upon a huge opportunity in 2009 to demonstrate what it can offer to a lost generation of holidaymakers.

“The good news is more and more people are deciding to holiday at home again this year and are enjoying re-discovering what’s on their own doorstep.

“The acid test will be when sterling strengthens, particularly against the euro.

“The tourism“>UK tourism industry needs to continue to focus on delivering two key components to ensure it takes full advantage of this trend and makes Britain the destination of choice in the future – and they are value for money and quality of service.”

The BDRC Holiday Survey found that:

* 46% of all those considering Europe as a holiday destination have revised their plans on the basis of the current euro exchange rate
* 8% will not go to Europe at all
* A further 8% will shorten their trips
* 20% will reduce the number of trips
* 21% will still go but reduce expenditure whilst there
*41% of those who find the UK appealing said they prefer the UK as they are fed up with air travel. This is a significant increase on last year’s figure of 29%.

Self-catering and seaside holidays once again likely to prove popular in 2010.

* 25% of those who intend to take a UK holiday this year are likely to opt for self-catering accommodation, with 16% of us likely to take a camping/caravanning holiday

* Despite the weather, the British public is keen on the beach. 38% of all UK holidays already booked for 2010 are seaside/beach holidays

*Next are rural/countryside holidays (33%), city/town breaks (28%) and activity/
adventure holidays (13%).

Source: Phil Davies – TravelMole.com

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A rise in electronic travel booking volumes in December helped bring levels up to exceed the equivalent month in the previous two years, according to new data.

Travel technology company Pegasus Solutions reported that December GDS booking volumes, which predominantly represent business travel, increased by 15.35% over 2007 and +6.28% over 2008.

Alternative distribution system (ADS) booking volumes, which mainly represent leisure travel, jumped by 22.49% over 2007 and 17.18% over 2008.

The figures are based on the four billion transactions Pegasus processed during the month for more than 95,000 hotel distribution customers worldwide.

In light of this recovery in booking volumes, a Pegasus View booking report highlights the importance of raising rates lowered in 2009 to drive demand, drawing parallels to the post-2001 recovery.

CEO Mike Kistner said: “Following a year that started with booking volumes significantly down, the meteoric rise in the latter half of the year to levels in both channels that exceeded even 2007 serves as validation that the recovery evidenced in previous editions of The Pegasus View is in fact occurring.

“Many hoteliers find themselves again in the position of developing the most effective strategies to increase rates to a normalised level, which we address with observations and recommendations in this month’s report.”

The year started with average daily rate (ADR) down in both channels, leading to a fall in net revenue. ADR climbed close to 2008 levels in the GDS as the year continued, leading to positive revenue movement of 5.34% for the second straight month year-on-year.

But a “colossal” increase in bargain-hunting and online shopping through the ADS left 2009 net revenue for the channel 21.92% below the 2008 year-end.

Look-to-book ratios for the ADS continued to climb, growing 17.8% in December 2009 versus December 2008, and 54.7% over October 2008.

This indicator relates directly to the rise in ADS booking volumes, as well as the channels’ depressed ADR, according to Pegasus.

“Current indications are that look-to-books will continue to rise as travellers become increasingly rate conscious and savvy,” the company said.

“We’re enthused to see positive movement in booking volumes and ADR, but the rising look-to-books portends more pressure on technology infrastructure for travel suppliers,” said Kistner.

“Not only does this competitive shopping environment require an aggressive dynamic rate strategy, but the ability to also handle the immense number of rate and availability requests to your system.

“Rate and technology providers will need to ensure they are capable of returning the high volume of requests in the expected time, which some studies say is as little as two seconds.”

The Pegasus View for December 2009 is available in its entirety online and by free subscription at www.pegs.com.

Source: Phil Davies – TravelMole.com

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