Summer Daycations
Hidden Britain shares some destination marketing secrets
The summer holidays are upon the UK and despite the torrents, bursts of sunshine are making this a perfect summer for daycation. Last year National Trust Research showed that there were an increasing number of tourists opting for sporadic day trips rather than the traditional 2-week trip.
Now is your chance to lure those day trippers. Day trips or "daycations" are proven to reduce stress, increase well being and enhance quality of life, so these chilled themes can be drawn out from your destination offer.
Your destination can make the summer holidays a little smoother for parents by providing information such as age appropriateness of activities, height restrictions and where the nearest toilets are while they’re on their travels.
You may even be able to tap into some free marketing as local authorities often publish "summer activity itineraries" for families. It’s worthwhile because families will take their happy memories home, to share with their day tripper friends, who are also on their school holidays.
Then there are those without children who will also want to bask in the intermittent sunshine. Make things easy for workers, who are so stretched they have to cram relaxation into 12hrs. Promote your all weather offer, so if the weather isn’t perfect, the day won’t be wasted tackling the ironing.
Day tripping workers are seeking distraction from the daily grind, help them to disconnect by offering something cultural or historical. This added interest will help get their mind get off the job, and when they head home they’ll be refreshed and ready to promote you at the water cooler.
It isn’t too late, and if we have some autumn sunshine, your efforts will be spread beyond the peak season. Put your thinking cap on and start creating some memorable daycations.
There are lots to see in rural areas but visitors often struggle to plan a whole day in a single destination. By creating packaged trips you can relieve the anxiety of potential visitors and give your destination some control over where visitors go (and stay).
Take a tip from the Isle of Sheppey which created 24 separate days out, the Sheppey Tourism Alliance and the local businesses took working together really seriously, and this is how they managed to create such appealing trips.
They noticed that from traditional treats like fish and chips on the beach to a hidden heritage as the birthplace of British aviation; it didn’t matter how big or small destinations on Sheppey were they could offer different things to different tourists.
Sitting down together to understand what each business or group can offer helps to plan days out with a visitor in mind. The most important thing was sharing information, with other locals as well as visitors, so that someone nearby would always have the answer to any questions.
Because ultimately we all want our visitors to have the best experience possible, and hopefully stay longer and spend more.
Courtesy of Hidden Britain SE: http://www.hiddenbritainse.org.uk/
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