2012 could be the year of the staycation

Staycation as a word didn’t exist until recently and it has now entered the vernacular. It describes, of course, the trend towards more holidaying in Britain. Most are predicting that 2012 could be a record year for the phenomenon.

According to Mintel, four in 10 people say a foreign holiday in 2012 is a luxury they cannot afford. Tighter finances mean less money to travel. The trend has been growing for a while. For four years in a row the number of British people taking their holidays abroad has declined.

While it isn’t good news for tour operators, it’s not such a bad thing for the UK’s hotels, restaurants, pubs and for us retailers.

Figures show that staycationers have helped the domestic tourism market to grow by 10%. It’s not an inconsiderable amount of money either. Take camping and caravanning for instance. The latest tourism survey revealed that in 2011 there were 16.8 million camping and caravan trips in the UK that contributed £2.6bn to the economy.

This year the trend is being promoted more strongly. A new £5m, TV advertising campaign featuring Stephen Fry and Julie Walters among others, is aimed at tempting even more people to staycation this summer.

The initiative hopes to harness the power of this summer’s Olympics and Diamond Jubilee and inspire Britons with the tagline: ‘Holidays at home are great’ and cheaper with the promise of a 20.12% discounts.

The signs are already good. The Camping and Caravanning Club reported bookings over the Easter holiday 28% up on 2010 and 5% up on last year. It expects summer bookings to follow the same trend. Apparently there have also been record numbers of requests for road closures to county councils from residents planning Jubilee street parties as they did last year for the royal wedding.

At Halfords we have benefited from the staycation trend as we have helped people with their life on the move. We’ve taken the opportunity to broaden our range to help families travel and enjoy their active leisure time. In addition to traditional roof boxes and cycle carriers we now offer an extensive range of tents and camping equipment.

The Olympics will also focus attention on sport and of particular interest to Halfords is cycling. The British cycling team under coach Dave Brailsford has already got off to a good start this year, at the World Championships in Australia, with five gold medals in the Olympic disciplines. Further success in the summer is expected to be good for cycle sales.

In anticipation we have launched a range of Pendleton Bikes. These were designed by Victoria Pendleton for women who want to incorporate cycling into their everyday routine and like the idea of the endorsement of a gold medal-winning Olympian behind their purchase.

While there will be opportunities, no one is anticipating them being easy. The retail industry is extremely strategic and organised about calendar events.

Preparation for the Olympics has been just as methodical. Months of planning has been done in head offices, products are ordered, supply chains organised, promotions planned and marketing spend committed.

I’m sure there will be competition for the extra expenditure this summer but amid the continuing economic gloom, the staycation and Olympics effect could provide opportunities for winning retailers to grow sales. 

• David Wild is chief executive of Halfords