Research & Insights

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The UK level monthly reports can be found via the link below and are located at the bottom of the page. 

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This public attitude survey was designed to monitor how potential visitors are feeling about returning to visitor attractions when they re-open. It addresses two of the major questions that attraction operators are likely to have when re-opening:

1. What should attractions be offering (or not offering/keeping closed) to build public confidence in visiting?
2. What messages should attractions be putting out there to help build public confidence and show themselves in a positive light?

The latest wave captures insights based on attraction type and highlights that caution is still primarily driven by perceptions of crowds and whether an attraction is able to maintain distancing. Similarly to the VisitEngland tracker, this resource benchmarks against previous waves, highlighting changes.

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Attractions Recovery Tracker Wave 6.

Indicators from the Opinions and Lifestyle Survey covering weekly periods to understand the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on people, households and communities in Great Britain.

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A Government study into the travel behaviour of people in the UK during the lockdown period aims to identify the social, attitudinal and behavioural effects of COVID-19. The first wave of research took place from 15-22 May in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland and from 28 May – 4 June in Wales. This is the first wave in a series of four reports.

Some key findings:

• During lockdown travel reduced significantly, with 61% of people using cars (either as driver or passenger), 58% taking buses and 56% of people using trains less often or not at all compared to previously. Working patterns changed; four in ten adults, 40%, say they worked at home more during lockdown.
• Private modes of transport and active travel were the most common ways of getting around during lockdown; 63% drove a car during lockdown, 65% walked or wheeled all the way to a destination and 21% cycled. By contrast, high proportions of people did not get on a bus (82%) or a train (88%). Bus use was higher than train use; but only 6% made journeys by bus once a week or more frequently with even fewer, 2%, doing so by train.
• Lockdown caused significant disruption to people’s existing travel plans. More than a third of adults said they had plans to fly abroad (35%) or to make a long-distance car journey in the UK (34%) which they had either cancelled or postponed, or had had their plans cancelled by a travel company. One in five (20%) had plans to travel by train for leisure cancelled or postponed in this way too. Smaller proportions had plans cancelled or postponed this way for travel within the UK (12%), coach (9%), ferry (8%) or going on a cruise (6%).

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• In preparation for the campaigns that we will be delivering throughout 2021, and in light of Brexit and the new Covid-19 strain, we started capturing consumer sentiment relating to Kent across social and other digital platforms. Top line report are available below:

Kent Consumer Sentiment Analysis – December

Kent Consumer Sentiment Analysis – January 

Following on from the EU referendum VisitBritain commissioned a survey across 9 markets into consumer perceptions of Britain.

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The research aims at scoping the overall travel sentiment and attitudes, mapping triggers of travel, measuring the competitive position of Britain’s destinations in inbound consumers’ minds and mapping drivers of a visit to Britain. Data must help stakeholders prioritize marketing efforts in 2021. Data informing the Wave 1 report was collected between 2-16 December in 14 markets. Key results include:

• Encouragingly, 70% of respondents said that they would consider an international leisure trip in 2021
• 35% express interest to visit friends and/or relatives suggesting there is a real need for connection
• 63% said they would leave bookings to the last minute
• 74% of respondents also say they would look for less crowded places
• 86% of those considering a trip to Britain would travel to England, 51% would go to Scotland, and 29% would go to Wales.
• Geographically close markets such as France, Germany, and the Irish Republic tend to have poorer perceptions of the safety of Britain’s nations when compared to some long haul markets.

More details and the full report are available here 

With a range of economic indicators to support and drive Kent & Medway’s recovery from COVID-19, a new Economic Recovery Dashboard is now available to provide information for business, public and voluntary agencies.

The dashboard data can be interrogated by geographical area using simple drop-down boxes, with source statistics drawn from a range of authoritative sources at both national and county level.

These include modelled estimates from the Office of National Statistics (ONS)’s Business Impact of COVID-19 Survey with national figures disaggregated and applied to Kent and Medway.

VIEW THE DASHBOARD HERE

With many businesses being closed during March, instead of collecting visitor footfall as part of our monthly Business Barometer, Visit Kent invited businesses from across Kent to complete a short survey, to gain an insight into how the COVID-19 pandemic is impacting businesses.

This report aims to summarise the challenges that are currently faced by businesses in the county and identify what support and guidance businesses need. The report also looks to identify which financial schemes businesses are accessing, alongside highlighting any operational difficulties businesses felt they may have with a staggered reopening and with social distancing measures in place.

In addition, the report will also highlight ways in which businesses felt the tourism and hospitality sector could be boosted in the immediate aftermath of COVID-19 and what steps the Government should take to boost UK inbound tourism when social distancing measures are lifted.

For serviced accommodation performance, this report presents data provided by hotel benchmarking company STR Global, who was also awarded the contract to provide serviced accommodation data by VisitEngland. 

We would also like to thank all the businesses who took the time to complete the survey during this difficult time. The findings from this survey are valuable not only to help ensure businesses are getting the support they need but also to help build a strategy for recovery.

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Findings from the Visit Kent Covid-19 Impact Study were submitted to the All Party Parliamentary Group for Tourism & Hospitality as part of their Pathway to Recovery Consultation. 

Some of the key findings reported include:

• Tourism and hospitality businesses need more flexibility from the furlough scheme, including an extension that will support businesses beyond the summer season.
• The ability to operate with a staggered reopening structure varied depending on the size of business. Many businesses reported that operating in historical properties make it difficult to operate with social distancing while making a profit. 
• Clear guidance is needed from the government on health & safety requirements to allow consumers to feel confident in our hospitality businesses.

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The DCMS Select Committee published its reporton 23rd July 2020 into the impact of COVID-19 on DCMS sectors. A number of TIER members provided evidence to the committee earlier this year alongside other tourism industry representatives, following which a letter was sent to the Tourism Minister.

• The report focuses heavily on the sports and arts sectors, calling for an extension to the furlough scheme, sector specific VAT cuts, and clear timelines on reopening for mass gatherings. The Government has already announced measures covering some of these recommendations.
• There is also a suggestion by the committee that DCMS sector structures and operations are not well understood by Government, hampering effective support.
• The report recognises the seasonal nature of tourism, noting that 2021 business will be largely deferred trips rather than new ones.
• While the committee noted that the quarantine requirements are causing uncertainty for the industry and called for DCMS to work with the FCO and DfT to review and communicate travel arrangements appropriately.
• There was a focus on the impact on visitor attractions, many of whom rely on inbound visitors and have used lockdown as an opportunity to adapt their digital offering. The report recommends temporary legislation to ensure that museums that become insolvent as a result of the crisis cannot be liquidated for 12 months.
• Regarding domestic tourism, the committee recommends a flexible furlough scheme to support the sector through the low seasons and calls on DCMS to set out plans to extend the holiday season.
• The report further suggests the Data Hub, outlined in the Sector Deal, should be taken forward urgently.
• Finally on tourism, the committee recommends a national campaign to restore consumer confidence in domestic holidays.

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ONS has produced a report on economic and social trends which has some interesting data including:

• Footfall across all retail locations is 68% of what it was last year, despite the need to wear face masks in most shops
• 95% of businesses in the UK are now open
• Only 12% of the workforce is now on furlough
• 57% of businesses reported that their turnover had decreased below what is normally expected for this time of year
• Only 11% of businesses said that they faced a moderate or severe risk of insolvency

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ONS has published a report on the impact of Covid on the tourism industry that brings together a range of date over different time periods. The main findings of the report are:

• Monthly air passenger arrivals to the UK fell from 6,804,900 in February 2020 to 112,300 in April 2020, a fall of 98.3%.
• Greater London saw the largest fall in room occupancy of any English region from 2019 to 2020, with just 20% of rooms occupied in July 2020 compared with 90% in the same month in 2019.
• Accommodation and travel agency businesses saw the sharpest decline in turnover during the first national lockdown, falling to 9.3% of their February levels in May 2020.
• The proportion of businesses in travel and tourism industries trading peaked at 85% in October 2020, before declining in response to increasing restrictions in November.
• In the three months to June 2020, employment in accommodation for visitors fell by 21.5% compared with the same three months of 2019.
• In travel and tourism industries overall, the number of people aged 16 to 24 years saw the largest fall in employment of any age group between Quarter 3 (July to Sept) 2019 and Quarter 3 2020.

Read the full report here 

The tourism and hospitality sector has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, with nationwide lockdowns highlighting not only its importance as an employer, but as a much-loved part of British society. Most hospitality businesses are small or medium enterprises located throughout the country; in the heart of cities, on local high streets, along coastlines, countryside and in remote idyllic rural locations.

Read the full report here 

Click here for the latest MIA industry findings 

MIA, the meetings industry association conducted a survey across their members, including conference and events venues, organisers and suppliers on how they could operate with social distancing measures in place. While 82% of respondents thought that it was possible to apply social distancing measures, over 80% also expect to lose more than half of their turnover per month. 

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The Events Industry Forum (EIF), Business Visits and Events Partnership (BVEP) and the Production Services Association (PSA) ran a survey between 3-7 April 2020. The survey showed that “60% of the UK’s event industry’s supplier base is facing collapse within three months, unless event businesses receive further support from the Government”.

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The ABWB has published a hub of resources to support wedding businesses.

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MIA industry survey findings report  has been compiled following the latest industry insight request from the UK Government’s Department for Digital Culture Media & Sport (DCMS), is based on the responses of 197 venue operators, who we estimate represent 36,628 employees

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The PASC UK have published a Self-Catering COVID cleaning protocol.

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Campsites.co.uk conducted an anonymous survey of 7,021 campers over a 24-hour period on the 27th and 28th of May to help understand their expectations and concerns for camping in 2020. Some of the key results include:

• More than 90% would like campsites to be re-opened by the beginning of July, but two-thirds were concerned about how locals would welcome tourists.
• 8 in 10 campers would check the measures a campsite is taking before booking
• More than three quarters expect campsites to close some pitches to reduce guest numbers
• 9 in 10 were concerned about other guests not respecting social distancing rules

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‘COVID-19: From Survival to Recovery’  is a summary all of the research and discussions about the impact of the crisis on the accommodation sector and the support that accommodation businesses need as they move towards reopening and recovery. Hotel solutions are also planning to produce updates to the paper as further information comes to light.

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The annual VisitBritain forecast for the volume and value of inbound tourism to the UK is issued in December each year. VisitBritain has updated their 2021 forecast page to reflect the impact of COVID-19 on inbound tourism to the UK, as well as an estimate of the impact on domestic tourism (Last updated for inbound January 28th; for domestic December 14th.)

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Tourism Alliance have put together a report that attempts to estimate the number of potential redundancies that could occur in the UK tourism industry. This estimation is based on VisitBritain’s forecasts for inbound and domestic tourism and the margin cost of an employee in the tourism industry. These figures, combined with decrease in expenditure in the UK on outbound tourism and revenue earned by UK airlines, suggest that up to 1.3m jobs are at risk and that even if not all those at risk of redundancy actually loose their jobs, there will likely be hundreds of thousands of people made redundant. This adds considerable emphasis as to why a specific support package for the tourism sector is required.

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As the world’s largest travel platform, Tripadvisor is in a unique position to provide the travel industry with forward-looking market insights, shedding light on the type of trips leisure travellers are planning in 2021 around the globe. The report highlights five travel trends that will define travel in 2021.

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BVA BDRC has released their predictive annual report on the intentions, motivations and attitudes of the British holidaymaker. This is a particularly insightful report as data collection began before COVID-19 took off and was repeated since, to capture changes. The report explores domestic and overseas travel trends, the holiday planning and booking stages, the changing landscape and the increasingly important sustainability opportunity. Findings show that the vast majority of the 33% that have cancelled their UK trips in March intend to book part or all of them when it will be allowed and safe.

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The pandemic forever altered consumer behaviour. What we value, how we consume and where we spend will never be the same. Businesses that explore and understand these shifts can act now to improve product and service development, employ stronger marketing tactics, lock in customer loyalty and prepare for what’s next.

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Tripadvisor has published a report at the end of May which covers a roadmap to recovery. In light of the long-lasting effects of the pandemic, it became clear that the industry will not simply bounce back, but it will rather go through a phased recovery. Based on this, the report identifies five distinct stages – Decline, Plateau, Emerge, Domestic and International. Each stage is covered in detail, with insights into how long they will last, and what it will mean for your business planning and marketing strategies in the months and years ahead. It also contains specific guidance for hospitality businesses, destinations and brands and details around the actions that you can take now to be ready for each stage of recovery.

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