Large fall in spending by tourists to West Country

Kevin Magor, who runs horse and donkey rides on Weston-super-Mare beach, says it has been a difficult year

The amount of spending money holidaymakers have for tourist attractions and restaurants has fallen by 70%, say tourism managers.

A typical family used to have £100 a day to spend while on holiday in the West Country, according to figures from Visit Dorset.

That has fallen to just £30 a day after the cost of living increased this year.

"These are huge drops", said John Turner, chief executive of Visit Somerset.

John Turner, chief executive of Visit Somerset, tracks how much tourists spend in the West Country, and says there has been a marked drop.

The last three years have been turbulent for West Country holiday firms.

First there were Covid lockdowns, then a steep rise in the cost of energy and food.

Now their customers are trying to trim their spending to cope with the increased cost of living.

Looking for free activities

So what's going on? To find out, I visited some of Somerset's classic tourist attractions.

People are still coming to the region for holidays, say tourism managers, but they are spending less.

"People are taking their own picnics and drinks," said Mr Turner.

"They're looking for free activities, avoiding cafes and restaurants," he added.

I met him at Cheddar Gorge, visited by 500,000 people every year.

It is home to Britain's oldest skeleton, the so-called Cheddar Man, believed to be 10,000 years old.

The Cheddar Man is Britain's oldest skeleton, visited by 500,000 people every year.

They have been charging visitors to look around the caves for decades, so they have seen a few economic cycles.

Recently, they have noticed people choosing just one cave or cliff climb, instead of buying a package for all six attractions.

Mr Turner says that is typical of the "squeezed summer".

"Where people used to visit three or four attractions in a holiday, now it's just one," he said.

And when the sun comes out, they head to the beach for a free day of family fresh air.

Wet July dampened profits

The trouble is, there have not been many sunny days.

July was the sixth wettest on record, and much of August was damp too.

Some in the tourist trade say that was more of a problem than customers' tight wallets.

Wet weather has hit takings on Weston's famous donkey rides

On the beach at Weston-super-Mare, Kevin Magor's family have been running donkey rides for, well, donkey's years.

"June was ok but since July when the holidays began, it's been terrible," added Mr Magor.

When I was there, the beach was dry, if not sunny.

That was enough to bring families out, with children loving the donkeys as they always have.

"We get the odd day," smiles Mr Magor. "The odd day we make a few bob," he added.

Last-minute bookings

The combination of tight budgets and wet weather has made people much more careful about booking.

In a small hotel on the Weston-super-Mare seafront owned by the YMCA, I meet Martin Hodgson.

He runs a handful of West Country hotels and has noticed people booking much later than usual.

"On average, they usually book 45 days or more before they come. Now that's down to two weeks," he tells me.

Mr Hodgson says people are still investing in a holiday, because "we all need a good break".

"It's been a scary few months", says Matt Sims, who rents out motorhomes.

I hear the same story from a leading motorhome hire company in North Somerset.

Matt Sims runs The Motorhome Holiday Company. They usually start July fully booked but this year they were "only 60% booked".

Most of the motorhomes did eventually get used, but some at very short notice.

Mr Sims said: "Finally the weather turned, and we were fully booked through August, but at the very last minute.

"It's been a scary few months. For most tourism firms, it will be about survival.

"Make it through to next year, and you'll be ok."