Place Informatics, the leading provider of footfall and location visitor behaviour data monitoring in the UK, believes that visitor behaviour insights are the key to managing and regenerating many tourist hotspots, town centres and high streets across the UK.

New Visitor data from the leading firm has shown that the top ten seaside towns in the UK are seeing a huge increase in popularity over the last 12 months with some attracting millions more visitors than the previous year. The popular southern seaside town of Brighton has seen an increase of 6.7 million more visitors in the last 12 months (June 21 – May 22) compared to the previous (June 20 – May 21). Blackpool saw an increase of 5.2 million and Bournemouth 3.5 million as staycations and the increasingly warm weather is driving a surge of visitors to the popular beaches and towns.

The data also shows these popular seaside towns, their beaches, high streets, green spaces, facilities and particular businesses are being utilised and this information gives local councils vital insights to help manage these huge increases in visitors. Parking, resourcing and also increasing local facilities, services and popular businesses for tourists are key to ensuring the towns can manage and understand their visitors.

The insights also show what catchment areas tourists are visiting from and seasonal and daily, weekly and monthly variations, so councils can plan in advance to ensure the towns can cope with their increased popularity. This data is also vital to retailers, hospitality and other local businesses so they can plan for peak periods to ensure that they have the right staff and infrastructure in place.

Clive Hall, CEO of Place Informatics, commented, “It is great to see these popular seaside towns attracting so many more visitors over the last 12 months, but these huge increases can impact local businesses, services and infrastructure if not managed correctly. Our data helps these seaside towns understand their visitors and helps them plan to minimise any negative impact of this increased popularity and ensure these additional visitors are a positive for the towns and their businesses.

We offer local councils and businesses detailed insights to show how visitors are behaving when visiting town centres on a daily basis and also for regular or special events for the public. We can also provide details of the postcode area that visitors have travelled from, giving town centre managers and retailers the information needed to make informed choices and maximise the return from these.” 

For more information on location visitor data and insights visit placeinformatics.com.

Written by Kunal Sawhney, CEO, Kalkine

Airlines are suddenly in the news after various flights were cancelled, affecting the half-term getaway for many. First, it was the low-cost carrier EasyJet, which announced to cancel over 200 flights over the next 24 days, followed by the travel company Tui which announced cancelling multiple flights over the weekend.

At a time when the UK is bracing up for an extended bank holiday weekend, flight cancellations and delays have washed out plans of many. Also, traditionally, the summer tourist season is considered to be starting with the June half-term. It is going to be the busiest tourist season after the restrictions of the covid-19 pandemic.

Soon after the cancellation announcement, both the companies, blamed a number of issues for it and added that it was required to provide reliable services over this busy period.  The reasons given by the airlines include air traffic restrictions and runway works, and handling delays by the airports, while it was a software failure that had forced easyJet to cancel around 200 flights.

The chaos is not something that has erupted abruptly; since the removal of the restrictions, there has been a sudden rebound in travel demand, and the airlines were finding it hard to handle the situation amid their inability to recruit enough ground staff. EasyJet even had to take the extreme step of removing six seats from some A319 aircraft, which could help it fly with one lesser crew member.

The latest chaos saw many travellers stuck in hour-long queues at several airports, with families waiting for clarity on the flight and alternatives offered in case of cancellation. It is not in the sky but on the roads as well. Motoring organisation the RAC has warned of heavy congestion on roads, and people are being urged to check the latest advice before travelling. Thousands of flights have been cancelled ahead of Memorial Day. The sudden spike in traffic volumes is undoubtedly the reason, but airlines and airports were not fully prepared, putting plans of travellers holiday celebrators in disarray.

Government’s 10-point strategy

Recently, the government came up with its 10-point strategy ‘Flightpath to the future, a strategy to deliver an innovative and sustainable aviation sector over the next 10 years. The plan has been envisaged to deliver a successful aviation sector of the future with the government and the industry working together.

While launching the strategy, the government had stated that consumers, jobs and innovation would be at the heart of it. Pandemic resulted in an existential crisis for the aviation sector, so the new strategy has been targeted to rebuild consumer confidence after the pandemic. It was said that the government will work closely with industry and consumer groups to support the sector deliver the best service possible for consumers.

The government had also targeted to deliver benefits for communities across the whole country with the ‘flightpath to the future’ strategy, and the focus was to be on attracting and retaining the skills to accommodate new technologies by the sector.

Final thoughts

The government’s strategic framework over the next 10 years through ‘flightpath to the future’ may deliver results in the coming future, but the chaos that the aviation sector is going through at present needs urgent attention. Airlines, going by the rulebook, are compensating the aggrieved passengers facing a chaotic situation. However, everyone was aware that this half-term period would be the busiest travel period, still, proper preparation was not done either by the government or the airlines, which resulted in the disruption of travel plans for a score of passengers.