Cornish holiday company Harbour Holidays has seen a significant lift in bookings thanks to this year’s heatwave in the United Kingdom.
The hot summer weather had a positive impact on holiday accommodation bookings in the Cornish resort of Padstow, according to local letting agent Harbour Holidays.
The Padstow holiday company reported a 5.84% increase in bookings for self-catering holidays over the three months of summer, compared with the same period last year.
During June, July and August this year, the company booked a total of 2,045 property weeks at its holiday homes and cottages, compared with 1,932 weeks for the same three months last year.
Harbour Holidays is a Padstow based holiday letting agent, representing the owners of over 175 properties in the town and the surrounding area. With over 25 years in business, it has seen many good summers and plenty of poor ones too.
Harbour Holidays’ owner Nicky Stanley: “This has been a fantastic summer for holidaymakers and for business. The long run of good weather seems to have inspired a lot more people to stay closer to home and choose Cornwall for their holidays in 2018.”
The Met Office recently reported that 2018 was a record summer in the UK. It was the joint hottest summer since records began in 1910, tied with the heatwave years of 1976, 2003 and 2006.
Nicky Stanley commented: “The weather here this summer was phenomenal, especially in June and July when there were barely any clouds for days on end. The last time we had it this good was back in 2003 when we had much fewer properties. It’s great to see what how good weather can positively affect bookings and the quality of people’s stay.
“Cornwall is a beautiful place to visit, whatever the weather, but there’s something extra special when it’s dry and warm and you can spend all day on the beach or outside without fear of getting drenched.”
The positive effects of the ‘Staycation’ have been felt in all areas of the country, and national tourist authorities have also reported a boost in holiday bookings this year. A survey by VisitEngland for its Tourism Business Monitor found that the summer heatwave was highly beneficial to accommodation providers, who saw a net increase of 36% in visitors as a result*.
Harbour Holidays also believes that the quality summer we’ve just had is having a positive impact on its bookings for next year.
“We’re off to a flying start,” added Nicky Stanley. “Advance bookings for 2019 are looking really good, which may well have been helped by this year's weather. Most of our larger houses are already fully booked for the school summer holidays. And we're getting close to 50% occupancy for June, July and August next year and we still have the peak booking period to come!"
*Source: VisitBritain’s Tourism Business Monitor - www.visitbritain.org/business-confidence-and-performance-monitor
