The staycation trend is set to continue

Background

In the very early years of the new Millennium when the impact of the international financial crisis took hold, holiday markets began to change, and new trends emerged.

Travel overseas became more expensive and often cost-prohibitive; value for money and holidaying closer to home became a prime consideration for many holiday makers; and so, the ‘staycation’ trend emerged and began to grow in popularity.

NI residents took 1.5m domestic holidays in 2019, spending £234m. These figures represent growth of 15% and 9% respectively on 2018 domestic holidays and associated spend.

In 2019 Barclays Corporate Banking published a report “The Great British Staycation – the growing attraction of the UK for domestic holiday makers” which presented key findings and indications on how the staycation market was developing, including -

• Three in 10 domestic holidaymakers (31%) plan to spend more time in the UK in 2019 than they did in previous years.
• More than half of 25-to-34-year-olds surveyed (52%) plan to increase their UK-based holiday time.
• After convenience, the main reason is positive experiences that people want to repeat. The latter is cited by 21% of those planning extra UK holiday time – suggesting the habit of domestic breaks is being positively reinforced.
• Most hospitality and leisure businesses in every region of the UK have seen rising demand from domestic tourists, with many reporting increased revenue as a result.
• Holidaymakers are booking their breaks earlier’ a trend noted by 39% of businesses.

Current market trends

Today we find ourselves dealing with the aftermath of Brexit and working through the Covid-19 crisis. Travel afar is still very much off the table for a great many people, but once lockdown rules begin to lift, and people start planning their holidays, experts predict that more of us will be staying closer to home; the staycation trend looks set to continue and become even more popular.

Almost everyone was forced to stay at home in 2020 and many experienced, for the first time in a long time, just what Northern Ireland has to offer the domestic tourist. Many of these people will undoubtedly want to repeat the experience and will come back for another bite of the staycation cherry in 2021 and beyond.

According to research carried out by Holiday Cottages, 4 in 5 people are planning a 2021 staycation in the UK. From the research, it seems people want to visit more rural, scenic locations for their staycation, showing the shift in staycation priorities away from urban areas and into natural beauty spots.

This shift is also prevalent across the younger generation and the research suggests that many younger people have seen much more of the UK than they would have had it not ben for the lockdown and are keen to explore more of the UK’s rural beauty, rather than bustling towns and cities.

Opportunities for the campsite and holiday park sector

Increased staycation demand in 2021 is forecast to deliver a much-needed boost for the tourism industry, with camping and staycations set to be among the most popular vacations.

Camping, caravanning, holiday parks and glamping by their very nature provide holidays that are largely outdoors, where social distancing can be observed, and people can spend time in their own space and move around without too many crowds.

Caravan and Motorhome Club Director General Nick Lomas told the BBC: “When our campsites were allowed to be open last year (2020) we actually saw record levels of bookings, with new memberships up by 14%.” He added: “We think that 2021 is going to be like a cork popping from a bottle.” More recently Nick updated: “Our bookings for this year are looking very buoyant and we know it's going to be another popular year for staycations.”

Coolcamping.com’s UK Camping Trends Report 2021 says last year (2020) was one of the most popular years for camping holidays in the UK. Indeed coolcamping.com hit a new all-time high for bookings and expectations are that UK camping holidays will remain a popular choice for domestic holiday makers in 2021.

Building future business

There are opportunities for existing operators across the camping and holiday park sector to take advantage of and capitalise on as the staycation trend looks set to continue:

The majority of existing parks already have good infrastructure and established operations, which lends itself well for bolting on additional and/or new complimentary product.

Many parks will have latent capacity and/or surplus ground that could be developed to accommodate new product, such as glamping units, staycation cabins, pop-up camping

Existing product mix could be reviewed with a view to maximising revenue per pitch and sustainable yield, by changing the balance for example between owned holiday homes, hire-fleet, touring, camping and glamping.

Funding and/or planning consent will be fundamental requirements for many new initiatives, but local authority planning departments will support well thought through and presented schemes that bring benefits to the tourism and visitor economy, and local economies. If external funding is required, then most of the corporate finance providers have a specialist tourism/hospitality/leisure division, who will be looking to invest in solid initiatives.

Operators have a wealth of experience through operating and developing their holiday park businesses. Naturally their main focus is on delivering a sound operation and good customer service, so when it comes to new business initiatives, many will engage the services of a specialist consultant for support with business review, feasibility studies, business remodelling, and business plans.

Services may need to be stepped-up to keep pace with rising expectations, particularly of the younger generation, such as - the ability to book specific requirements in advance on-line, flexible refund & cancellation policies, Wi-Fi & streaming as a standard provision, being able to take advantage of local offers from other providers in the area, and more.

It will also be important to remain aware of changing trends and review/upgrade booking systems to ensure that demand is successfully captured, serviced and capitalise on.