Mixed summer for seaside resorts

Hotels in UK seaside resorts have had a mixed summer, despite various promotional campaigns to encourage people to holiday at home, research has revealed.

Bournemouth was one of the leading coastal resorts, with research from both leisure operator Shearings Holidays and analyst firm TRI Consulting revealing strong rises in bookings in the South Coast town.

Shearings reported an increase of 17.5% in the first seven months of the year, compared with the same period last year, while TRI Consulting reported a 6.7% rise in full service hotel occupancy and a 4.6% revenue per available room (revpar) increase.

Shearings, which based its figures on research of 140,000 holiday‑makers, also revealed that visits to Weston-super-Mare were up 18%, while the Isle of Wight saw a 17% uplift.

But resorts such as Brighton and Blackpool did not fare so well, with neither making Shearing's top 10 and TRI showing a drop in occupancy and revpar. Room occupancy fell by 10% in Brighton, as well as showing a 6% fall in revpar, while Blackpool witnessed a 4.8% fall in occupancy and a 7% drop in revpar.

Despite the mixed results, tourism agency VisitBritain remained positive. Tom Wright, chief executive, said: "Despite our national obsession with the weather, British breaks today can easily compete on value and quality against rival destinations overseas."

Earlier this year, budget hotel chain Travelodge called on the tourism industry to support its "Save our Seaside" campaign.

UK tourism dismayed by cuts at VisitBritain >>

Travelodge welcomes Government commitment to UK seaside >>

Travelodge calls on tourism industry to support the UK seaside >>

By Gemma Sharkey

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