Tourism Alliance Update – 19th May

  • Meeting with Network Rail

I am attending a meeting with network rail next Wednesday to discuss the scheduling of major engineering works so as to minimise disruption for passengers. They are particularly keen to understand changes in demand in the leisure markets post covid and the impacts of undertaking work at weekends, bank holidays and during the week.

In preparation for the meeting could you send me any information you have on either:

  • The impact that engineering works being undertaken on weekends and during holiday periods had had on your destination/members
  • Any changes in rail travel to destinations/members businesses post covid.
  • DCMS Sectors Economic Estimates

DCMS has published the economic estimates for the sectors of the economy under its responsibility. Interestingly, all the main sectors except Gambling in now performing above their pre-covid levels (indexed to 100 on January 2019)

                                                            Pre-Covid            March 2022

               Creative Industries           100                       105

               Cultural Sector                  100                       109

               Digital Sector                    100                       105

               Gambling                            100                       96

               Sport                                   100                       101

               Telecoms                            100                       117

               However, there is no estimate of the economic performance of the Tourism Sector because “the data normally used to produce the annual GVA estimates:

  • does not reflect monthly variations during the pandemic
  • is only available up to the end of 2020
  • is very sensitive to underlying assumptions.”

Ie., the major domestic and international tourism surveys haven’t been undertaken so there are still no official statistics on how the tourism industry has faired over the pandemic and to what extend it has recovered.

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/dcms-sectors-economic-estimates-monthly-gva-to-march-2022