The age of many of these properties in rural locations holds an added ‘benefit’ in that repairs and renewals help to maintain and develop traditional skills of restoration of old buildings; this feeds into other areas of repairs, renewals, extensions and so forth. That such skills are largely available is partly due to the work of the National Trust, which has developed a set of principles for restoring or maintaining their buildings (see Jarman, 2000) and fostering the development of traditional building methods.
Maintenance and development of the property
A facet of the interrelationships of tourism enterprises with the local economy recognized and explored through the surveys is of building works, regular maintenance and repairs which generates demand for local tradesmen on a fairly consistent basis and thus contributes to the local economy and community more generally. Second, continued visitor demand and improved profitability encourages new works; witness the finding in 2001 from the accommodation category: one out of every five enterprises indicated that they had current plans for upgrading the operation in some way, e.g. redecoration, upgrade rooms, add rooms, develop catering operations, add a conservatory. In rural locations, the majority of the enterprises by far, including owners of self-catering properties, refer such work to local trade persons, who within the LDNP use local materials. This is partly due to their availability, but also to maintain character and, as applicable, meet the Park Authority’s planning regulations. This demand helps contribute to the maintenance of traditional skills and the presence of skilled tradesmen in the area.
One area not explored was whether the owner/manager had or was taking into consideration good environmental practice with regard to design or fixtures and fittings; for example, from amongst the many choices that are now available for introducing more environmentally friendly designs, building materials and products. However optional choice in such matters over the last decade due to new building regulations is more limited today. This does not apply to everything, for example one respondent noted: ‘all redecorated rooms have hospital type taps as seemingly lots of people have problems with ordinary type taps’ i.e. turn/screw style.
Annual Turnover
The first survey of serviced-accommodation in the LDNP did not invite respondents to indicate their turnover though this was addressed in the auditing stage. It was subsequently included in the surveys of the other categories in the LDNP and when researching the enterprises in Scotland. The findings for 2001 are presented in Table 2.3; each of the categories from 2001 is included to allow for cross-category comparisons (the equivalent data for 2006 are very similar). The majority of the enterprises have a turnover of less than £250,000. To place this in one perspective – it was estimated at the time that in general, tourism enterprises in the UK had a turnover of less that £250,000 (Bardgett, 2000). The comparatively higher revenues of the serviced accommodation operations in the Fringe are largely attributable to the much lower proportion of BBs in that data set. The inns in both the LDPN and the Fringe compare well with the SA (serviced accommodation) category in that the majority (70% and 65% respectively) also offered accommodation.
The data for 2006 are very similar allowing for price increases over the intervening period. However, where substantial differences arise is in the 2011 stage. The urban sample comprised comparatively a higher proportion of non-micro-enterprises and operations that were part of a national group. This is reflected in the revenue figures: 64% had a turnover in excess of £0.5m whilst 10% achieved less than £100k, a significantly lower proportion than either 2006 or 2001.
Table 2.3. Indicative turnover.a
aFood producers – 13% £350,000–400,000; 63% £400,000+
Influences on turnover
A major factor for many rural enterprises is that of seasonality. Across Europe this is traditionally the major holiday period of June to September, which coincides with school holidays and generally warmer weather. This is far less noticeable in urban settings given the shift from ‘business’ to leisure custom over this period. However, for rural and coastal locations this can be a problem outside of the high days of June through August, which was more noticeable for 2006. In the LDNP the highest occupancy was achieved in the September/October period – slightly better than for June/August. This was largely attributed to a combination of factors, as respondents commented:
• ‘The season is now longer’ (18%).
• ‘More people are taking winter breaks’ (16%).
• ‘More day visitors in winter’ (16%).
• ‘Increase in numbers of visitors overall’ (12%).
Further enquiries into the performance of the business over the previous 5 years found that the majority of enterprises reported an increase in profitability and an increase in staffing over the same period. Also more of the rural enterprises were achieving a consistent level of activity and profitability over the year (less markedly seasonal). Allowing for these factors, participants in the 2001 stage noted that this performance was also due to improvements in service offerings and especially promotion, development of internet usage and websites, etc. This is well illustrated by Country Lanes, the Windermere-based company that operates cycling day trips, short breaks and longer tours in the Lake District which gained a top E-commerce 2000 Award. To quote Country Lanes:
The trick has been to transform our traditional niche travel business into a global e-commerce enterprise. And I’m happy to say that our web site now generates 90% of our business (Anon., 2000b, p. 5).
Employment
The figures on employment, as presented in Table 2.4, affirm that by far the large majority of the rural enterprises are micro-businesses. The employment figures for 2001 and 2006 evidence comparatively few in the small enterprise category let alone medium (similarly the attractions). Slightly more than 50% employ similar numbers of staff on a part-time basis. The findings for 2001 indicate higher than average per enterprise employment whilst 2006 closely correlates with Leidner’s (2004) analysis of employment by tourism enterprises in the EU (i.e. 93% employ 1–9 persons; 6.5% 10–49; approx 1% over 50). They also compare favourably with Garay and Font (2012) who found that 77% employed five or fewer staff (rising to 87% for those employing ten or fewer). In the case of Gaunt’s (2004) study, 71% of the Scottish TOs were identified as employing nine or fewer staff. Overall, the key difference between the data sets is with 2011, which included comparatively fewer in the BB and inns categories.
Overall, these enterprises individually generate limited employment opportunities but collectively the story is very different. In the case of the LDNP, the serviced accommodation operations in total employ approximately 1000 persons, when the sample is taken as a whole the average per enterprise is 9.9 staff, two thirds of whom are in full-time positions. This excludes owners, who gain their livelihood through the business and members of their family who may also work in the business.
The many part-time positions present opportunities for local people for whom fulltime work might not be suitable, e.g. a parent with young children to look after, or teenagers and students seeking holiday jobs. Also, part-time positions may be available which involve working times that fit in with the public transport service. The availability of transportation to enable employees to get to and from their place of work is a key factor; all the more so in rural areas. If not able to walk to their work then in the absence of access to their own transportation they will be dependent on public transport and at the times required to meet their working hours (e.g. early start: 0700 hours or late finish: 2300 hours) which is often unlikely. Thus having their own means of transport is very important as illustrated by the finding in 2001 that one