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31
Aug 2024
Local tourism businesses give verdict on summer trade
Good economic news is hard to come by these days, and it’s become all too common to hear tales of how hard times are for independent businesses. For those that rely on tourism, summer is the ‘make or break’ season, just as Christmas is for many retailers.
So now that the calendar is about to flip over into September and the kids are getting ready to go back to school, just how have the last few months been for those businesses that form part of the visitor economy? Has summer been cool – or cruel?
The Stray Ferret asked some of the businesses most reliant on tourism how they’ve fared over the mid-year period, and the picture that emerges is patchy.
Tony Gibbons is managing director of Lightwater Valley, the theme park north of Ripon that attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors annually. He said the venue was “substantially ahead of last year, both in terms of visitor numbers and revenue”, but added:
The summer has been mixed – there's been no great consistency. We’re effectively an outdoor venue, so the weather always plays a massive part.
The May bank holiday and the June and July weekends weren’t great, but we’ve made up for it by being innovative.
We’ve had meet-and-greet character appearances from [children’s animated TV characters] Peppa Pig and Bluey and Bingo that have been very successful. We’ll be having Paddington on September 21 and 22.
People like to take their kids to meet their heroes, and the fact that we don’t charge to meet the characters or to take photos has been extremely well appreciated.
Go Safari at Lightwater Valley
Asked whether the weather or the cost-of-living crisis had made the greatest impact on the bottom line, he said it was the weather, “by about 60:40”. But he said:
Anything price-led has been successful, such as the two-for-one or three-for-two offers.
If we’d just sat on our hands, we’d have been in the same boat as everybody else, but we’ve been very proactive.
Marigold Café on Waterside in Knaresborough
In Knaresborough, the Marigold Café, which hires out rowing boats on the River Nidd, is also at the mercy of the weather. In fact, in 2022 it was forced to close briefly when Storm Franklin left it under water for a short period.
Co-owner Neil Webster told the Stray Ferret:
We had probably the wettest April on record. The river was in flood, so we couldn’t let any boats out and had to give numerous refunds. It was painful. So we started summer behind the curve and we’ve playing catch-up.
I think across the last 12 months, visitor levels are slightly down, initially driven by the extremely wet spring weather and more recently perhaps because the public is generally nervous about what’s coming in the October budget.
As far as the summer is concerned, it’s been OK but the recent bank holiday storms haven’t helped. We’re hoping for some good weather into September.
At the time of writing, the Met Office was forecasting little or no rain over the coming week, but Mr Webster cautioned:
It’s important that we don’t create a false narrative just because we’ve had some short-lived good weather.
Local government need to understand that tax rises, above-average recent inflation, and above-inflation national minimum wage increases are going to put significant pressure on leisure and hospitality businesses for some time to come.
Natalie Moore, owner of Harrogate Olde Sweet Shop
While all tourism-related businesses are affected by the weather, some appear to be less vulnerable than others, particularly those whose customers commit to visiting a long time in advance, rather than making a decision based on the following days’ forecast.
The Harrogate Olde Sweet Shop at the bottom of Montpellier Parade, for example, gets a lot of trade from organised parties and, says owner Natalie Moore, the summer has been “good overall”. She said:
We’ve had a lot of coach trips from further north – the North East and Scotland – as well as a lot of Americans and Europeans: a good mix.
It’s steadily increased since covid, when foreign tourism dropped to zero, and we’re back up now to where we were pre-pandemic.
I think more people are holidaying in the UK, or taking more short breaks, so that they have more things to look forward to.
It looks to be a similar story for the hospitality industry. The Camberley B&B, on King’s Road, opposite Harrogate Convention Centre, has seen an upturn in bookings. Owner Kimberley Wilson said:
To be honest we were a bit worried because [Harrogate] had lost the Gilbert & Sullivan festival, but I think we’ve actually done better this year than last. Occupancy’s up and revenue’s about the same, so I’m comfortably pleased.
US-Brazilian actress Camila Mendes was spotted filming on James Street in Harrogate in 2022.
She said that overseas visitors were starting to return following the covid pandemic. A neighbouring B&B is even expecting a party from Japan. She attributed this in part to the entertainment industry, but said more could be done:
The filming of All Creatures Great and Small is doing very well for us. But we’ve had Camila Mendes [Upgraded, 2022], Ralph Fiennes [The Choral, 2024] and Pierce Brosnan [Giant, 2024] all filming in and around Harrogate, and I just don’t think they’re fully taking advantage of it.
It’s a brilliant opportunity to push this a bit harder. I think we’re missing a trick.
One business that bucks the trend and positively thrives in bad weather is Stump Cross Caverns in Nidderdale. The temperature in the underground attraction is 7 degrees Celsius all year round, making it feel warm in the winter and cool in the summer, and it’s dry no matter how much it rains.
Owner Lisa Bowerman said:
The first week of the summer holidays was beautiful, so we were 30% down and getting worried, but as the holidays progressed, the weather got worse so we got busier. By the time the summer’s properly over I think it’ll have evened out.
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