Plea for further support as Harrogate B&B community faces up to barren winter season

With the town’s guest houses and B&Bs noticing a drop in bookings towards the end of the year, they are putting their heads together to come up with new ways to attract tourists even when the weather is less forgiving - looking at activities and attractions which are both indoor and Covid-secure.

Ali Standen, deputy chair of Accommodation Harrogate and co-owner of Acorn Lodge Guest House, says the ongoing closure of the Convention Centre and the lack of shows and exhibitions taking place has been a cause for concern.

She told the Harrogate Advertiser: “As we move into autumn we do have some bookings but they are mainly on a weekend, we are very thin on the ground during the week.

“We have seen a massive impact from having no shows taking place. Usually we are busy in the weeks with trade from the events but that’s pretty much non-existent now really. We are having to work really, really hard to encourage people to keep coming through the winter.”

New figures also show that people are currently looking for shorter breaks and are spending less time in the town.

Data released by Booking.com shows that in the last 90 days, 57% of people looking at visiting Harrogate have been interested in one-day stays, 29% have been looking at two-day stays and just 14% have been looking for three to seven day stays.

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And of those visiting and booking in the last 90 days, only 4% have been families, with 78% being couples - an unusual trend for the summer holidays.

Ali added: “It was great to reopen again over the summer and we have had some good trade, but it was still a bit quiet compared to a usual summer.

“For some reason, it seemed that a lot of people were choosing to staying in the bigger hotels rather than guest houses and we’re not sure why.

“It also seemed that people were staying in bigger cities like York and Leeds and then coming to the district for a day-out. We need it to be the other way round.”

Acorn Lodge has adapted its services during the pandemic, and can now be rented out as a self-catering option to whole groups. This has proved a popular option, with the whole house booked out for three weeks in August.

Despite the guest houses coming up with new ways to serve visitors as safely as possible, Ali says it is not enough to carry them through the harsh winter. It comes after the announcement that this year’s Christmas market in Harrogate, which attracts 80,000 visitors annually and has over 200 stalls and traders, has been cancelled in yet another blow to the tourism and hospitality sector.

According to Ali and other B&B owners, including Kim Wilson at the Camberley, many people have already cancelled their December bookings after hearing the news.

Ali says more now needs to be done to push the town and the wider district for its cold-weather attractions following the cancellations of all its main events.

“We do already have some bookings for next year but we have got to get through the winter first. We are still riding the wave of summer which I think may hold us for another month or so, but not much longer. We really need to think about how to push the district in cold weather.

“We need to talk about how accessible it is and how there are so many great indoor attractions on our doorstep, like Harewood House for example or places where you can go for nice walks, such as Fountains Abbey.

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“We are the gateway to Yorkshire. It’s so easy to get to everywhere but you get a lot more breathing space than you do in the big cities.”

Harrogate’s thriving food and drink scene is another important selling point, according to Ali - as is evident from the impressive response to the Government’s Eat Out to Help Out scheme.

With eateries across the district offering a 50% discount Monday to Wednesday during August, sales were through the roof and it is clear that the public are getting used to dining out once again.

Ali added: “We put up lots of recommendations for places to go on our walls and one couple said they’re going to have to come back for another visit because there are so many eating and drinking places they still want to try.

“We are really lucky to have lots of nice little breweries and independents here and have a real unique offering for people.

“We have huge brands on our doorstep like Bettys and Taylors, and Slingsby Gin, and I think it would be really great if they could come together to help us with our marketing plan.

Eat Out To Help Out still on offer in Harrogate and here's where...

“It really is just all about how we sell ourselves and what we have to offer and everyone in our group is saying the same.

“We’re currently really pushing on the autumn theme - using social media to focus on crisp walks, log fires and cosy pubs - but we need fresh ideas for the winter.”

Owner calls on tourism bodies for extra support

A B&B owner is calling on tourism operators across the district to offer their support to accommodation providers as the winter draws in.

Kim Wilson, owner of the Camberley B&B on Kings Road in Harrogate, is urging bodies like Visit Harrogate, Welcome to Yorkshire and those responsible for promoting the area to help businesses drive tourism during the colder and quieter months.

She said: “With the Christmas market cancelled we have seen a rise in our cancellations over the festive period and obviously we are not getting much show trade now.

This is how our B&Bs are hoping to bring the tourists back to Harrogate this summer

“Although some exhibitions and events are still going ahead, just at outdoor venues like the Showground, we are still losing international business because of the quarantine rules.

“Traders from other countries simply can’t afford to take the risk of coming here for one show and losing weeks of work due to being in isolation, as well as paying for accommodation during all that time.

"We have been lucky to be very busy over summer and have lots of bookings, and it is great that lots of people have rescheduled exisiting bookings for next year - we are feeling very positive about March onwards. But the struggle we face is surviving the winter and we are going to need all the support we can get with marketing the area over the season.”