Brexit and tourism in Cornwall

Have you been wondering whether Brexit or indeed a ‘no deal’ Brexit will impact tourism here in Cornwall. 

People are worried about possible passport issues with a no deal Brexit, leaving people anxious about travel problems in the EU.  There may be potential flight disruptions due to air space agreement arrangements and other licensing agreements likely leading to an increase in airfares.

 

Driving in the EU might require an International driving permits and there are certainly huge possibility that future exchange rates will lead to holidaying in the EU becoming more expensive following a no deal Brexit, as well as increased insurance costs possibly if we lose the European Health Insurance scheme.  

Largely, in reality we probably won’t notice the effects immediately as the transition period is in place to smooth this out.  But uncertainty is unsettling and when it comes to holidays, people don’t want to feel unsettled.  Inevitably all of this uncertainty will lead to an increase in ‘staycations’ and Cornwall could perhaps be the solution to the perfect place for an interim holiday. 

All of this is worth considering in your current marketing push, especially in the lead up to Easter and pre peak season periods.

The Rise of Airbnb in Cornwall

When starting out in the holiday letting business in Cornwall, one of our USPs was to offer home owners the flexibility to let out their homes from 1 week to the whole year.  This flexible approach was at the time somewhat unique and appealed to Cornish and 2^nd home owners alike.  It was great to see the number of locals taking us up on this offer and offering a means to bring in an extra income by renting out their home for a short period each year.

 

Moving on 7 years, the rise and influence of Airbnb has brought this idea to more and more people due to its large audience, flexibility and money generating potential.  Airbnb has helped to open up Cornwall to a more international audience as well as people looking for more places to stay closer to home. 

 

According to Visit Cornwall figures, there were around 200,000 visitors a day to Cornwall in August 2018 and 10% had stayed in Airbnb accommodation.  ­

 

Martha says, ‘We believe that the Airbnb trend will settle down in Cornwall going forward and we won’t continue to see the massive growth noticed in the last couple of years. Airbnb offers a great way for people to be more independent in the competitive letting market.   Local home owners looking for an extra income stream, who strive for the best standards and follow the industry regulations correctly, can thrive, achieve longevity in the market place and make use of the large audience that Airbnb has to offer.’

Has Cornwall reached saturation in the peak season?

This summer, I took a drive to my secret summer hideaway beach.  When I got there I shook my head… what…wait a minute….the car park was full.  Is there an event on? Perhaps a triathlon?  As it turns out there wasn’t, but my secret beach was apparently trending on social media!

The great weather, social media selfies, the rise of Airbnb and impeding Brexit contributed to one of the busiest summers in Cornwall.  Visit Cornwall states that there were 200,000 visitors a day in August 2018.  Does this mean Cornwall has reached tipping point?  Certainly there are a fair few beaches, Watergate Bay, Polzeath and even Porthcurno right down in the West, to name a few, where the wind breaks create a little city of people to meander around in the peak weeks.  The remote lanes, often single track, leading to many of the beaches found it hard to cope with the number of cars at the beginning and end of the day.

Whilst all this is true.  Cornwall did cope.  Businesses thrived, letting agencies were full and Airbnb-ers happy.  With the way that the current UK schooling system works, Cornwall will continue to have these few peak weeks where its resources are pushed to its limits but a happy influx of people will continue to arrive to get there Cornish fix. 

However, there will always be some people who be deterred from returning perhaps due to a long, slow journey back at the end of their stay and others will seek to find other new places to holiday at home but most will continue to make their annual pilgrimage south west.  As long as there are places to stay and the staycation trend continues, we believe that there will always be a balance on the edge of full capacity for the peak weeks and the Cornish people will continue to make the most of the influx of spenders.  The increased exposure along with the continuing variety of things on offer to do and see in Cornwall in the off peak times and the desire for people to visit without the crowds will help to drive an increase visitor numbers year round.