Visitor Economy Digital Adoption Study

In the latest Survival to Recovery Report shared by Hotel Solutions, the vital role of technology is highlighted as pivotal in the recovery of tourism businesses when the sector opens again. 

Businesses must adapt to fulfil new demands around digital platforms, and technology will need to sit firmly at its core.  With tourism businesses and visitors making much greater use of digital across the last year, building new remote visitor experiences, and utilising cashless technologies to enhance the booking process, will allow the industry to begin rebuilding around the growing trends arising from the pandemic.

At the start of 2020, digitalisation was already paramount for any hospitality company that was looking to future proof its business.  However, Covid-19 has in the space of just months rapidly accelerated the need for the sector to embrace technology.

A strong digital presence has never been so important for tourism and hospitality businesses; however, Business Lincolnshire recognised that for some this is still an area that many seek guidance on. In response to this, and as part of our recovery programme, Business Lincolnshire has commissioned the Greater Lincolnshire Visitor Economy Digital Adoption Study to be published in the spring.

Its purpose is to ascertain the scale of the opportunity for digital integration and training which is needed to future-proof our hospitality businesses. It will conduct research to understand the depth and breadth of the challenge in order to develop a strategy to encourage digital adoption across this sector. Recommendation will be given on how this evidence can best be translated and delivered to develop a strategic and operational plan to help move businesses in the visitor economy sector along the digital adoption journey across the region. This new resource will help the people in our hospitality industry to make the step-by-step change, regardless of their previous knowledge, and will support the future of these businesses across Greater Lincolnshire. For more information contact nicola.shepheard@lincolnshire.gov.uk  

Latest findings on the tourism sector

Hotel Solutions' most recent report From Survival to Recovery in January 2021 analysis gives optimism for eventual recovery and renewed growth for the UK’s hotel and visitor accommodation sector, but greater pessimism about when the recovery will start and how many businesses and jobs will be lost along the way. Hotels and visitor accommodation businesses in rural and coastal destinations look set to come out of the crisis more quickly, while those in city destinations are projected to see a slower recovery.  The Greater Lincolnshire LEP and Business Lincolnshire are working in collaboration with key partners to minimise this impact.  Click here to view the Visit Lincoln blog along with the full report here.