Really Good News - VisitEngland

As most of you will be aware our wonderful town of Skegness has been rated 4th in the list of the Most Visited Towns and Cities in England. This is an excellent achievement, surpassing the previous list in which we were rated 6th. This year we were beaten (if that is the correct word) by London, Blackpool and Scarborough, nothing really surprising there, to be honest.

This shows just how strong our visitor base is and the affection that they hold for our town. What is even more gratifying and an excellent pointer to the future are the figures behind the ratings in the list.

Businesses in the town have been saying that this has been a very poor summer. I have no evidence to disprove this statement and they are the ones that know what has happened to their takings. The figures from VisitEngland do show a position of strength when compared to other resorts, so things could have been far worse.

Skegness has seen a fall in visitor numbers of just 2%, not to be viewed with any satisfaction but when you compare this with other resorts, Scarborough down 14%, Great Yarmouth down a massive 22%, Bounemouth down a huge 25% and Brighton an eye-watering 37%, I  would suggest we are not doing too badly.

So what do I read into this then? Well, it appears that the people are still coming to Skegness but that they are spending less. This is only to be expected, to a large extent, in the current economic climate that the country has been left with. The important thing though, is that they are still coming. Our visitor numbers remain strong. As the economy improves, then we will be in an excellent position to benefit from it because the people are still here and they will have a bit more money to spend which will benefit us all.

So not only is the headline "Skegness 4th In The Country For Visitor Numbers" excellent news but the underlying strength is also very, very encouraging.

No room for complacency though!! Seek investment, accept investment and improve the town's facilities. Attract more visitors and grow the town's economy with the accompanying increase in jobs.

Skegness - Two Great Accolades - Have You Heard?

I have always taken the stance that my home town of Skegness is a great place to live and a great place to visit for either a day or a longer holiday break. Despite the efforts of many doubters and knockers I still do.

As most of you will know there was recently an entry in the Lonely Planet that described Skegness as "Tacky". This got a huge response and front-page coverage in local newspapers. Why, I can't imagine. Let's face it this was the view of a single journalist that writes for this publication, one persons view.

Now we have two excellent accolades coming our way from the august bodies that are Visit England, the premier tourist organisation in the country, and the very well respected Marine Conservation Society, and we get a bit of inside page news in the local press and nothing much anywhere else. Why?

Visit England have appointed Skegness with its "Attract Brand" status which reflects the town as being one of the top English holiday destinations based on visitor numbers and consumer perceptions. That means hundreds of thousands visit us every year and guess what? They love it here. Not just one persons view but the view of the most important people, those that actually come and visit us.

The Marine Conversation Society has run a study that identifies the bathing water off our beaches as being "excellent" and has recommended Skegness beach in its Good Beach Guide. Tie this in with the "Blue Flag" status we achieved recently and we have one hell of a good attraction there and it is all free to the visitor!!!!

So come on people, let's be proud of our town and the facilities that it offers. Shout it from the rooftops. Skegness is a great place for a holiday and accolades such as these should be given as much; no in fact more publicity than the negative comments that we sometimes hear. That is what this town deserves as do those that live and work in it.