We recently analysed the booking data from our 5,000+ UK customers and discovered that forward bookings for this summer are up 19.2% year on year compared with the same pre-Brexit-vote period – great news!
So, there’s little doubt that the Brexit vote and subsequent invoking of Article 50 have had a measurable positive impact on bookings for Britain’s independent hosts and hoteliers. There is no gloom at the Inn this summer! Our customers are seeing two benefits from a weaker pound: First, more bookings from U.K. consumers concerned about their reduced spending power abroad. Second, an increase in bookings from international customers, keen to take the opportunity to enjoy a British break at a favourable exchange rate. So it’s no surprise that nearly two thirds of owners (62.4%) expected to see an increase in foreign guests this year, reflecting the attractive exchange rate conditions.
Regional performance:
Although we’re seeing uplift across the board, not all regions and types of property are benefiting equally: Areas of the country benefiting the most from the upswing in bookings are Central England, Northern Ireland and Scotland.
It’s great to see such a strong performance from Central England, dispelling the myth that the B&B is all about the seaside. Country pursuits are a huge part of British leisure time and this performance demonstrates that. It’s also encouraging to see Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales doing so well. But the strong performance is a truly national trend.
Let’s all go to the seaside:
Seaside towns in particular have witnessed a rising tide of popularity as many travellers choose to forego leap-frogging flights to European seaside destinations and focus instead on the British seaside’s nostalgic charms. Seaside B&B bookings in towns like Torquay, Bognor, Brighton, Penzance, Scarborough, Blackpool and Great Yarmouth have been especially buoyant since the Brexit vote:
The British seaside offers incredible variety, as our owners in the top-performing Penzance and Scarborough will testify.
We would say that independent B&B’s, guest houses and hotels are experiencing something of a renaissance, with British tourists’ growing enthusiasm for the staycation driving more and more people to seek out the quirky joys of an independent host over a boring chain hotel. We’ve also found that family-friendly locations have seen a dramatic increase in popularity. People with accommodation labelled as family-friendly have seen bookings up an incredible 56.9% as families tighten their belts and choose British breaks.
It’s clear that the Brexit vote and the invoking of Article 50 have had a hugely positive impact on bookings at Britain’s B&Bs with our customers reaping the benefits from a weaker pound across the board.
So if you’re thinking about how to grow your bookings online in time for a bumper summer then find out more about how we help independent hosts and hoteliers tell their story globally here.