The British Tourism & Travel Show hosted top experts, authorities and experienced group tour providers in the Keynote Theatre. The line-up gave show visitors inspirational and expert guidance from across the full spectrum of the group travel trade.

Here are some of the key takeaways from the Keynote presentations on the first day.

Euromonitor: New Opportunities for British Tourism

Alexander Göransson, Senior Consultant at Euromonitor International, kicked off Keynote Theatre proceedings with a snapshot of what’s happening now in UK tourism based on Euromonitor data.

Euromonitor forecasts 55m domestic trips in the UK in 2023 and an increase in inbound trips to 17m. Furthermore, 32% of Euromonitor survey respondents said they intend to spend more on travel in the next 12 months, up from 23% in 2019.

Alexander then presented three of the biggest opportunities for the sector: experiential travel, bleisure and sustainability.

On experiential travel, he noted that the fastest growing fields within UK travel over the forecast period are guided tours and festival and leisure events.

“A reason for the growth phase is that people want to try new things. Guided tours or festivals and events ties in very well with that.”

The bleisure market (part business travel, part leisure travel) continues to grow, said Alexander. “It’s a new field that we estimate at about £3.5-4bn in 2023, which will be rising to in excess of £5bn by 2027.”
Moving on to sustainability, Alexander presented Euromonitor’s Sustainable Travel Index, which encompasses many areas, not just environmental, including tourism demand, lodging and transport.

Alexander said the UK is on the right track, with regional tourism “a great opportunity to direct more tourism outside of London to improve the UK sustainability ranking again”.

Visit Wales: Llwybrau. Wales, by Trails

Clare Dwight, Senior Tourism Marketing Manager at Visit Wales, delivered a presentation jam-packed with what Wales has to offer groups in 2023 and beyond.

Providing context behind the country’s theme – Llwybrau. Wales, by Trails – for the next two years, Clare said: “We evaluated a range of different factors, and whether the theme would resonate with the travel trade and groups was important. Not surprisingly, trails have come out strongly given their potential for itineraries.”

Clare showcased different itinerary ideas to highlight the diversity of the trails.

“Whether it’s cycling or walking trails, literary or music trails, or restaurant and distillery trails, there are many opportunities to present existing trails as well as new tours and itineraries using the Llwybrau. Wales, by Trails theme and incorporate it into your marketing,” she said.

Travel trade professionals can access a Llwybrau. Wales, by Trails toolkit, which includes an industry guide, logos and images to feature in marketing campaigns.

Clare also provided a taster of new products and developments in Wales.

Adido: Generating More Online Bookings from the Tourism Bounceback

According to Andy Headington, trends in peaks bookings in 2023 so far suggest it will be a “positive” year for the industry.

The CEO of Bournemouth-based digital marketing agency Adido said: “Most travel businesses had seen quite a lot of come back in terms of bookings, conversion rates and average booking value compared to 2019.”

UK tourism venues and attractions must maximise digital marketing efforts to capitalise on this tourism bounce back

Andy offered his expertise on search engine optimisation (SEO) and pay-per-click (PPC) advertising to drive more website traffic and secure more bookings.

“This is about making the most of your budget and trying to capture as much traffic as possible without them going anywhere else” he said.
Andy then moved on to some key areas to invest in, including:

  • Quality content to promote your brand and drive traffic.
  • Timing messages correctly to ensure they suit the time of year.
  • Testing your pricing to provide value.

“People will think a lot harder in the next six to 12 months about when and where they spend the money… We need to think about how to attract people and get them to buy when they’re unsure.”

Coach Operators: It’s all about the Group Welcome?

The day’s final presentation was a panel session about the ‘group welcome’, featuring consultant Stuart Render, R.B. Coach Travel’s Roger Bull, Acklams Coaches’ Louise Webster, and D.J. Thomas Coach Holidays’ Chris Morgan.

The panellists shared their experiences of the group welcome and how it has been impacted over the last 12 months. Notably, some hotels are no longer offering a welcome onboard the coach.

Roger explained: “Sometimes we have to go in, and then it’s a long wait at reception to get your room keys and to find the facilities. So many hotels are lacking in staff, which makes it very difficult for us.”

Chris has also seen a shift in the welcome received at some hotels and feels coach groups are treated differently from private customers. He said: “It feels like we are lower class. We need to bring groups back into a level playing field with private customers.”

When asked what an “ideal group welcome” is, the panellists agreed that a welcome onboard the coach works best.

Chris said: “Our drivers would be a lot happier; having a point of contact makes a massive difference for our passengers.”

An audience member suggested destinations and attractions provide information for the driver to present on arrival, which the panellists agreed could be a solution.

“We give out driver packs for all our tours,” Chris said. “So, any information we can provide could be read out by a driver. It’s a very creative way of looking at it, and we would welcome that.”

Another solution could involve trade associations.

Stuart said: “I think we’re seeing a little bit of a slide back to how things were five or 10 years ago, and we need to rescue it.

“In the past, the Coach Tourism Association has put together a hotel charter. These things can be challenging to introduce, but they can remind hotels, destinations or attractions of coach operators’ requirements that can be easily forgotten.”

Louise agreed that “any help from the industry would be welcome”.