LOOKING AHEAD: CORNWALL
What will 2022 be like? While Malcolm Bell has some reasons to be cheerful, he also sounds a note of caution.
Ian Dury had a hit single “Reasons to be Cheerful” and we have reasons to be cheerful looking ahead to 2022 but there are also reasons to be worried. But let’s concentrate on the reasons to be cheerful first. The visitor research undertaken this year confirmed our beliefs, that Cornwall delivered the visitor experience expected and for some even exceeded expectations, despite the significant increase in the number of visitors and certain sections of the media stirring up anti-tourism sentiment within our communities. Cornwall continued to deliver and most importantly, it is competing very strongly with other UK destinations. The visitors enjoyed their time in Cornwall and gave us very strong referral scores and most pleasingly have a desire to return. Many other destinations would “cut off the right arms” to have that positive level of relationship with the customers. Looking forward to next year, we will see a strong desire for people to get away from home where so many both live and work now.
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TALKING TOURISM
And the demand to take breaks and holidays will be very strong, particularly multi-generational holidays for all those grandparents who have missed out on almost two years of connections and memory making with their children and grandchildren. I think we will also have new opportunities created from the change in work patterns post Covid, where many people will now be either spending a lot of time working at home or even just part-time working from home, resulting in so many losing their sanctuary and needing to create that work and life balance. There will be a desire to get away and have time with loved ones, family and friends. And this will not necessarily be in the peak weeks, but can easily be in autumn, in winter and in spring. There is also the “workcation” or “woliday” market where people can still have a good holiday, while doing some work or zooming in for the odd mustmake meeting. From our research, we have seen that people are interested in coming for short breaks and additional
WINTER 2021/22
