Coach friendly planning: Access all areas | British Tourism & Travel Show 2025

i'm Stuart Render a freelance group travel consultant uh travel writer transport writer and I'm going to be facilitating these sessions across today and tomorrow now this show is all about coach tourism and coaches themselves of course are the backbone of group travel it's therefore vitally important that the group travel industry works to improve access enhance facilities and create a smooth and seamless experience for group travel organizers and their groups now that's important of course right at the very first point of inquiry right through to delivery on the day and if it's appropriate the wave at the end of a visit now in recent months you've probably read about destinations in some of the UK's most in popular tourist hotspots hotspots looking to ban coaches now when it comes to congestion or over tourism then coaches are sometimes seen as the problem when in fact of course as we know they could be part of the solution bringing around 45 to 50 people at a time in a single vehicle ready to spend money and bring a direct benefit to a destination's visitor economy it's a message that bit by bit is getting out there now our first speaker today knows that uh message all too well so to set the coach tourism scene to tell us more about the importance of being coach friendly and to get this year's keynote theater program on the road from Coach and Bus Industry Trade Body the Confederation of Passenger Transport please welcome UK Coach Manager Phil [Applause] Smith thank Thank you very much Stuart for that introduction um just to to to put things into context I thought I' I'd start this morning with a few statistics which um I think it's probably late enough now to to to get to sort of digest those just to demonstrate the power of coach travel and what coaches can do for the UK economy we commissioned some work from KPMG um last year which really took a deep dive into what coaches are worth to the UK economy and just some headline figures are shown here um we believe that around 450 million individual passenger journeys are made by coach for all various reasons every year from long-distance express coach travel right through to corporate and pure coach tourism which is what the you know the theme of of this event is all about coach passengers spend around5 billion pounds at tourist destinations each year and they spend around 8.3 billion pounds in the UK economy as a whole inbound tourism which um is is very important to the UK as a whole but in certainly in in in certain regions of the net and nations of the UK such as London and the Southeast and Scotland spending by coach passengers alone from this segment of the tourism market we estimate is a is well over half a billion pounds peranom and um from a from a social and uh you know e local economic perspective but benefits whole country around 54,000 people are directly employed in the coach sector so I thought those statistics would just set the scene for demonstrating the the value worth and power of coaches to the country moving on um these are some of the bene the the the sort of softer but nevertheless essential benefits that coaches bring um safety gets a boost i think you know over 50 years it's proved to be one of the safest forms of travel of any mode um we we bust congestion typically you know a 50 50 seat coach that's full can reduce up to 25 individual car journeys um we we clean up the air um coaches emit up to five times less CO2 emissions than any other mode of travel and just to put that into context you might think well hang on a minute you know a train with 10 coaches in so has got to be more e environmentally friendly than a coach carrying 50 passengers bear in mind that a lot of a lot of trains have um mo have engine diesel engines which predate the the euro rating for emissions and that's why coaches are more beneficial to the environment um we also are responsible for ensuring we can you know people are included in in the ability to travel um big big segments of the coach market in you know uh involve the movement of school children for leisure as well as home to school purposes and of course older people who either don't have a car or unable to drive anymore can still go on holiday because of coaches so this is this is what these are all things we should be saying through our marketing when we're going out to um both existing customers and potential ones to promote coach travel so how can coach tourism grow well CPT run a coach friendly scheme which I I happen to manage at the present time we have 36 destinations and that interest is growing we've got another six or seven applications in the pipeline which uh I'm confident will turn positive this year um in order to get into the coach friendly scheme they have to meet several key requirements such as either free or very reasonably priced coach parking uh centrallylo pick up and set down points if coach parking is remote from the centers of interest within a destination and they also have to provide adequate signage so drivers can find the parking and can find the picking up and setting down points we also um expect them to provide benefits for drivers and we also look for free toilet facilities as well which whilst it might sound basic is very very important and often hard to find in some places um local transport authorities uh destination management organizations um we we're on a we're on a quest really to ensure that they see coaches in the same light as we've largely persuaded them to see buses over the last 20 to 30 years in that coaches are part of the solution when it comes to sustainability whether that be um you know making sure that people can get into locations and places of interest um in a in a in a a volume sort of way on a on a 50 seat coach etc and also making them see the environmental benefits that coaches can bring when they're trying to meet targets on air quality and things like that uh in other words you know making sure they see coaches as part of the public transport mix um we're also seeing a a worrying trend in certain places um across the UK that um for either for political reasons or for reasons of um things like road space that or or or the the actual size of places because the historic cities etc are trying to limit tourism and unfortunately they pick on coach tourism as the prime target for restricting the numbers of people that come to visit them so we're we're at the moment we're fighting a rear guard action in places like well we'll name them in places like Edinburgh the Cotswwells um particularly to try and prevent coach access from being restricted um that said we do try and work closely with a variety of destinations and destination management bodies i sit on um a user group for Heithro airport which um is is a key destination for many coach operators taking groups to join flights or meet them from flights um we also take part in um other working groups around the country where tourism is um a key activity for that particular place and I also sit on the tourism alliance as a director and I sit on the Scottish tourism alliance representing the interests of the coach sector um so that we're not forgotten when it comes to um key activities like inbound tourism or indeed in at the moment in Scotland big big debate going on about how the visitor levy is going to be managed and we're also seeing increasing interest in uh visitor levies and visitor taxes elsewhere in England although the people may have noticed that the most recent one in Bournemouth Christ Church and pool has been put on old um we've just had a couple of successes in terms of um arguments we've had with uh couple of places regarding access bolton on the water was a a a long running issue which we've now found a a partially suitable resolution to in terms of somewhere for coaches to park and Matlock Bath which was um the coach park there was out of action for over a year we've negotiated um a deal with the district council whereby um if the coach park which was happened to have been blocked by a traveling family if they have an OB if they have to renew their obligation to house that family again they've given me an assurance that they won't use coach bays to do it and they've also as an act of goodwill offered free coach parking from now until the end of May which C CPT through myself negotiated so a final thought to leave you with when you're talking to destination management organizations to uh or anybody else where you you're going to send your coaches to and they might be a bit hesitant about hosting you just remind them that one extra coat visit visit coach visit per year can yield them a million pounds so that is the power of coach travel um and with that u I'll join rejoin Stuart thank you Phil one of the things that can really annoy people living near to coach pickup point of course is the is the issue of engine idling which might sound like a very technical and boring topic but it's one of those things that can really get people animated and and upset and start criticizing coach coaches coming into wherever they live um drivers of course will say it's to keep the heating or the air conditioning going depending on the time of the year but what advice is CPT giving to coach operators um and so that members in the audience here can understand the the wider issue how can or is that information that should be passed on to group travel organizers and tour planners so in fact they do understand the situation yeah I think you're right Stuart um there there is a two-pronged approach there um we've been both pro proactive and reactive when this issue's come up um you know we we we often use our internal coms to members to remind them about the the problem on a generic basis but I'll give you an example where we we actually took I hesitate to use the phrase direct action but as as direct as it can be given as we're not an operator in that there was an issue in central London um in the street where coaches often go while they're waiting for groups to visit Westminster Abbey or the changing of the guard you know significant things that tourists like to see when they're in central London And um there was a real threat that Westminster Council will ban coaches from that location and unlike some of the other in inverted commas bans and restrictions coaches sometimes face which are not justified and for other reasons than um the fact that you know the industry may have committed a wrong uh this wasn't because the you know there was um a further education college in this particular street and it was it was a hot summer of 2023 that all the windows open all the vents were open and the the college kept being filled with diesel fumes so you know so we were in a bit of a we weren't in a strong negotiating position so what we did we obviously got it out through our coms um to ensure that members were aware of this issue and to make sure their drivers were um you know shutting down engines etc and we also paid uh sporadic visits to the location ourselves um as CPT to make sure that there wasn't an issue for residents or businesses in that particular street to complain about coach driver conduct so we I think the the short answer is if if a DMO or anybody else for that matter raises raises something like this with a tour operator or a coach operator um come and tell us and we'll do what we can to resolve them the issue it makes sense we have a question harrah hello i'm Julia from Warikshshire it sounds like a lot of the issues around access are a result of um a retrofit on coach parking solutions in town centers have you seen any examples of proactive planning to accommodate coaches that are worth us knowing about um they are few and far between I have to say um that said we we've recently had um an example Ottery St mary in Devon where they actually apply they've actually applied to become coach friendly and in the original application they were they said they were going to be relying on a garden center on the outskirts of the town to provide the coach parking and um we it now transpires they've actually got two coach B parking bays which are are helpful the other the other thing that we can offer or we can facilitate because we are CPT and we represent the broad you know body of the whole bus and coach industry um is that if operators in our membership are struggling to find parking places particularly in in urban locations we can actually talk to our bus operator members to facilitate coach parking and a a good example of this is in East London where a reaver have um on application facilitated free parking at one of their East London depots for a coach operator and we can actually um work on this elsewhere in the country i've I've you know I've I've done it a few times now where operators have been struggling to find places to park and particularly if it's during the day we can find a solution with some of the bus operators who are in CPT membership and and I I actually see that developing because you know we've if you go on our stand we've got an electric coach here today and a lot of our bus operator members have said they will offer um electric charging facilities as coach operator members become zero emission i know that's a that's a slow burn issue but it's an example of how CPT membership can provide benefits for coach operators um from elsewhere within the membership i noticed looking around the audience we have one or two destinations here and attractions what's the first step in becoming in becoming coach friendly how how what's the very first thing they do other than perhaps phoning you up and going "Hello we'd like to become coach friendly." Um I think they've got to have some some foundation point like they have to have some coach parking now it doesn't necessarily We like free coach parking and there are examples of free coach parking but it doesn't have to be as long as the charges aren't excessive that will not debar an application for coach friendly the the other the other sensible conversation an applicant has to be able to hold with us is how um people can find um adequate toilet facilities because again particularly in England over the last 101 15 years we've seen you know a a a very accelerated uh decline in the number of free toilets available one one example I could give you is Nant Witch which is coach friendly and they actually have a it's quite unusual but it's worth mentioning they actually have a scheme whereby all the traders like that have toilets mainly cafes have all agreed that they will let their toilets be used on a on a free public basis as part of coach friendly accredititation um but you know again we're we're just dealing with an application now in East Devon and they've got a sainsburries with toilets so you know that it it it will it will pass muster on that basis so I would say that they're the two things and of course the third thing is is if the coach parking is remote I think I mentioned during the presentation then there has to be a sensible pickup and drop off point and it and it you know it can't be bus stops and the reason for that is that or it can't be bus stops which are used frequently because we we can't have coaches blocking bus stops because that defeats the object of the scheme okay do we have a question but one thing I one thing I' I'd like to ask really is that it seems to me that everywhere is going to be different the the opportunity to become coach friendly and therefore when a tour planner a group travel organizer um who whoever's thinking of coming to visit a destination when they're looking to see whether that's somewhere they want to go they want that place to be as coach friendly as possible but everywhere is different is there a a template of you mentioned it earlier I think but a template like a bit of best practice that everybody should be working towards some of some of the the things to make it true or proper coach friendly might be almost in the that's next year's budget we can't do it yet but are you able to go in and encourage DMOS or indeed visitor attractions because we haven't really mentioned them yet um you know to think right that's what we need to be doing and we have CPT behind us giving us the impetus to to to to make that work and the end result is you get more groups you get more coaches i think well I think one one of the things again that's that's linked to that which we haven't discussed yet is signage and the reason I mentioned signage is because often and and I have to say that a lot of them are very very good at managing tourism have a third tier local authorities in England the parish and town councils because they're very close to the product they're very close to the stakeholders within that localal and they can get things moving very quickly but they don't have control over highway management and I'll just I won't say where it is but we have a location in West Yorkshire which is part of the leads metropolitan district to the highway authority and I audited them in 2022 and it was a very good audit but there was a slight issue with some signs and they're at the beha they're at the behest of um the first tier authority who managed the road network and I know when I go back later this year that will probably not have been done and that's because they for love mummy they can't get the metropolitan district which is some you know the center of which is some 10 miles away to to actually spend the money to put the signs up so I think that that is it's that is a big issue with coach friendly and it's not always within the the the uh gift of the applicant to be able to resolve it because we in fairness we don't have that many first tier authorities in me in coach friendly membership at the moment we are hoping to um get one not too far away from here soon but um they there's still one or two um tees to cross and dot and eyes to dot we've spoken about destinations but for visitor attractions who you would have thought as they're in complete control of their own world should almost all be coach friendly now visitor attractions can apply to for coach friendly accredititation but what are the particular challenges that a a visitor attraction might face to to tick all the boxes adequate coach parking um pickup and drop off points near the entrance for the guests um we've got a few and we've now introduced a nominal charge for the commercial ones um which isn't very much but it just recognizes the fact that it is a big plus point for them making more money basically um but the ones we the applications we've had are very very good you know we have we haven't had anybody um any tongue or any tongue and cheek applications where you know it might be it might be a great attraction somewhere but they don't actually have their own coach park we haven't had anything like that I'm pleased to say um other other places where we for example that we don't charge all the Royal Horicultural Society sites are in coach friendly membership and I I've taken the view that that's you know I'm not trying to big them up but in inverted commas a national institution so you know it's right for us that they're coach friendly and that we can say they're in the scheme and it's and it's right for them for sustainability reasons to be in the scheme as well and it's something that's I know people have to pay to go there but it's something that's that the whole country shares and do you think that being coach friendly clearly is a route to attracting more coaches and groups i have this notion that a group travel organizer or a tour planner sitting at their kitchen table or their desk or wherever they do these things these days and thinking right we could go to this place or that place ah that place is coach friendly they obviously want us as a group as a coach operator to visit and so it is really important for more people more places to get the accreditation but do you feel and I'm guessing this is a matter of resource it needs to be better known and does CPT need to be spreading that word possibly using those places that do have accreditation to get that word out there and to explain the benefits of it i think there's three three parts answer to that Stuart i think firstly that what or group organizers or operators that run their own holiday tours programs and people in that category can um realistically expect is that that if they see coach friendly attached to a destination they can expect and you know and I I'm using this word guardedly there'll be some sort of exceeding of minimum an expectation and you know I'll give you an example would be the drivers will be looked after which somewhere somewhere that isn't coach friendly um you can't guarantee that at all and we we have we have taken a robust approach on this I mean we had a we had a renewal um in 2023 which I won't name them but I had to really push they've had coach friendly for some years and I had to really push them on getting something for drivers because they've never actually delivered so we are we are quite we are quite um hard on on applicants and and renewal candidates as well with that secondly yeah I think we need to do more to actually promote the scheme and make it easier to find information on it i I've I'm I'm about 75% of the way through writing fact sheets on all the destinations which are available through our own coms and I'm hoping that this year the CPT website will be um actually um changed so that we a more accessible coach friendly page we we've had some changes internally which have made that a bit more difficult than it ought to have been but we are working on that and the third point I would make is that I I've just attended the Scottish Tourism Alliance spring conference and yesterday I was at the tourism alliance spring conference in London um and this ties into coach friendly and what you're asking i think that sustainable tourism is going to be the next big theme of of um you know over the next few years and coach friendly certainly helps willing destinations and attractions to deliver on that but I actually think there's an opportunity now for for operators and group tour organizers to actually widen the demographic of travelers on coach tours and holidays because a lot of the you know we haven't got time to go into it here but a lot of the data analysis that people are doing whether it's visit Britain or other organizations like that are all showing that younger demographics the you know members of younger demographics rather will actually pay a premium for sustainability now I think if operators and group tour marketeers look at how they actually package their products and um start aiming the the marketing towards a slightly younger demographic you could actually grow your customer base and you know we we've this it's a bit of a generalization but historically we've kind of relied on the over 55s disproportionately there's there's some concerns there i mean I'm in that bracket now i I'm sort of still doing holidays that take me far and wide you know globally and hope to do for the next 10 years so that's changed from the sort of wartime generation and post-war generation who are in this the the current cl make up a lot of the current client base and of course a lot of older people are driving for longer so that that we've got to look at ways that we can we can widen the the the customer base and and I think sustainability could be the key to doing that okay well thank you Phil time is upon us um what I will mention though is as part of being coach friendly and you probably do it anyway is the meet and greet but what do you do at the other end of a visit if a group comes to visit you what's the opposite or the the other end of the process and I will leave a thought with you um as we finish this session now is that have you thought about doing a wave away so you have the meet and greet at the beginning and when the coach is ready to leave at the end of the day if you if you know the coach is going at a certain time and this applies probably more to visitor attractions and destinations hotels already do it of course for the most part but when the coach is ready to go um then jump on the coach say thank you and then wave the coach away it's a small thing you meet and greet and you wave away but on that topic um thank you Phil that's been fascinating food for thought can you thank Phil please in the usual way [Applause]

2025-04-25 10:06

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