Tourism Enterprise. David Leslie

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      ^aFood producers – 13% £350,000–400,000; 63% £400,000+

      Influences on turnover

      A major factor for many rural enterprises is that of seasonality. Across Europe this is traditionally the major holiday period of June to September, which coincides with school holidays and generally warmer weather. This is far less noticeable in urban settings given the shift from ‘business’ to leisure custom over this period. However, for rural and coastal locations this can be a problem outside of the high days of June through August, which was more noticeable for 2006. In the LDNP the highest occupancy was achieved in the September/October period – slightly better than for June/August. This was largely attributed to a combination of factors, as respondents commented:

      • ‘The season is now longer’ (18%).

      • ‘More people are taking winter breaks’ (16%).

      • ‘More day visitors in winter’ (16%).

      • ‘Increase in numbers of visitors overall’ (12%).

      Further enquiries into the performance of the business over the previous 5 years found that the majority of enterprises reported an increase in profitability and an increase in staffing over the same period. Also more of the rural enterprises were achieving a consistent level of activity and profitability over the year (less markedly seasonal). Allowing for these factors, participants in the 2001 stage noted that this performance was also due to improvements in service offerings and especially promotion, development of internet usage and websites, etc. This is well illustrated by Country Lanes, the Windermere-based company that operates cycling day trips, short breaks and longer tours in the Lake District which gained a top E-commerce 2000 Award. To quote Country Lanes:

      The trick has been to transform our traditional niche travel business into a global e-commerce enterprise. And I’m happy to say that our web site now generates 90% of our business (Anon., 2000b, p. 5).

      Employment

      The figures on employment, as presented in Table 2.4, affirm that by far the large majority of the rural enterprises are micro-businesses. The employment figures for 2001 and 2006 evidence comparatively few in the small enterprise category let alone medium (similarly the attractions). Slightly more than 50% employ similar numbers of staff on a part-time basis. The findings for 2001 indicate higher than average per enterprise employment whilst 2006 closely correlates with Leidner’s (2004) analysis of employment by tourism enterprises in the EU (i.e. 93% employ 1–9 persons; 6.5% 10–49; approx 1% over 50). They also compare favourably with Garay and Font (2012) who found that 77% employed five or fewer staff (rising to 87% for those employing ten or fewer). In the case of Gaunt’s (2004) study, 71% of the Scottish TOs were identified as employing nine or fewer staff. Overall, the key difference between the data sets is with 2011, which included comparatively fewer in the BB and inns categories.

      Overall, these enterprises individually generate limited employment opportunities but collectively the story is very different. In the case of the LDNP, the serviced accommodation operations in total employ approximately 1000 persons, when the sample is taken as a whole the average per enterprise is 9.9 staff, two thirds of whom are in full-time positions. This excludes owners, who gain their livelihood through the business and members of their family who may also work in the business.

      The many part-time positions present opportunities for local people for whom fulltime work might not be suitable, e.g. a parent with young children to look after, or teenagers and students seeking holiday jobs. Also, part-time positions may be available which involve working times that fit in with the public transport service. The availability of transportation to enable employees to get to and from their place of work is a key factor; all the more so in rural areas. If not able to walk to their work then in the absence of access to their own transportation they will be dependent on public transport and at the times required to meet their working hours (e.g. early start: 0700 hours or late finish: 2300 hours) which is often unlikely. Thus having their own means of transport is very important as illustrated by the finding in 2001 that one in six staff resided outside the LDNP. In one particular case, a woman living some distance away from the enterprise applied successfully for a job but subsequently found that although the hours were between 1100 hours and 1700 hours, the available public transport made for a much longer day and substantial cost. After a short period she resigned. This is one of the factors that explain why so many of these enterprises provide accommodation for staff, which also enables persons from outside the area to be employed. This is well illustrated by Lake District Hotels Ltd, which in total employs 460 staff of whom 250 live in accommodation provided. A further influential factor on staffing is that demand for many of the rural enterprises is less markedly seasonal than it was in the early 1990s. Thus continuity of revenues throughout the year supports appointment of full-time permanent staff, which might well not suit persons already in part-time positions; a situation that also brings problems as regards recruitment (see page 23).

Table 2.4. Employment.^a