The Centre for Alternative Technology
Based in Machynlleth in Wales, C.A.T runs a variety of Special interest holidays. In 2003 these were:
June 29-July 1 Waterless Toilets
July 13 – 15 The Solar House
September 28-30 Sewage Solutions
October 5-7 Solar Water Heating Systems
October 19-21 Family Birdwatching
October 22-24 Solar Electric Systems
November 12-16 Wind Power
These activities only last a few days, but they go well beyond the normal summer holiday and attract people who want to learn about recycling and energy saving.
The County of Dorset
Special interest holidays are becoming very popular throughout the whole country. Many of these activities attract 'high value' tourists. This is a term for tourists who tend to have a lot of “disposable income”. Maybe single people without children who have more money to spend on their holiday. Special interest holidays offer the prospect of attracting the tourists to the area in the “shoulder months” i.e. before and after the school summer holiday and out of season. After all, there is no better time to find fossils, see over-wintering birds or study the effects of erosion than after the first winter storm.
Portland and the Fleet are important sites for over-wintering birds, and on some parts of the coast Peregrine Falcons are known to be breeding. The old Portland lighthouse has now been converted into a base for ornithologists in the area. The National Trust run working holidays at several of their sites in Dorset, where people help with maintenance activities.
Dorset's remarkable coastline attracts many people with an interest in earth sciences. 'Geo-tourism' exists on the Dorset coast at places such as Lulworth where people come to see and learn about the spectacular cave formations or at Charmouth where the prospect of discovering a fossil is a real draw.
One other special holiday group is those visiting the coast for recreational purposes. The Dorset coast is important for a range of activities including sub aqua diving, sailing, climbing, walking and bathing.
The Dorset Tourism Data Project undertakes annual visitor surveys and publishes reports on the profile of visitors to the county. The figures are based on the 1997\8 survey.
In the region of 4 million overnight trips are spent in Dorset each year of which approximately 92% are people from other parts of the UK and 8% are people from overseas. A quarter of these visitors stays in Bournemouth, 18% in Weymouth & Portland and 15% in West Dorset.
The largest group are from professional and managerial fields of work, 44% are ‘couples’ and 38% family groups. 10% are retired. 44% of staying visitors choose self-catering accommodation and 40% in hotels, B&B’s, guest houses.
42% of visitors had been before and liked what they found. Only 3% visited for the countryside and natural history and a similar number for visitor attractions. However in terms of a secondary reason for visiting, 22.5% cited scenery, countryside and natural history while 19% quoted visitor attractions. Geo-tourism relies on both the coast and the attractions that interpret it, suggesting that there is a strong interest and potential market.
Most staying visitors come from London and the South East, the North and the East and West Midlands. The majority of overseas tourists come from the Netherlands, Germany, Australia, New Zealand and America.
Accommodation used by Visitors:
This table shows that under Occupancy levels in August most types of tourist accommodation is almost completely full. So to get more tourists in, the Tourist Board has to find ways to attract visitors out of season in the spring, autumn or winter. This is why Special Interest Holidays have been developed. It is to try to spread visitors more evenly over the whole year and not just have them all to stay in the summer.
Staying visitors spend an average of £29.41 per day.
Accommodation 48%
Travel 5%
Entertainment 10%
Shopping 13%
Food and drink 23%
Other 1%
Most day visitors come from counties neighbouring or within close proximity to Dorset. Day visitors spend an average of £12.69 per day on the following:
Travel 25%
Entertainment 10%
Shopping 26%
Food and drink 36%
Other 3%
As you see, staying visitors spend over twice as much as day visitors. So finding reasons for tourists to stay in an area is important for tourism.
Visiting schools are an important group. Educational groups occupy 200,000 bed nights each year in Dorset. These visits are outside the peak summer holiday period and are therefore an important market.
School visitor figures from local museums and centres suggest that about 70% of groups are from Primary or Middle schools. There are two types of education groups, local schools from Dorset and neighbouring counties who come on day trips and residential groups, including Dorset schools and others from further away, who typically stay for a long weekend or a Monday to Friday trip.
For any Local tourist Board, the questions are the same. Do we want to encourage more visitors out of season? What are the specialist subjects that our area could offer? Is this being marketed well? How do we find the market for these holidays? Could special interest visitors use the existing tourist facilities such as hotels? Would close some attractions in the autumn and winter make these holidays less attractive? Could the resorts provide more out of season entertainment to attract visitors? Could visitor income be increased without increasing numbers? Can we do more to encourage and increase overnight stays, in the area? Can we increase the number of foreign visitors to the area?
Special Interest Holidays have become a very important way of attracting tourists and their money into an area outside of the normal summer holidays.
