Keswick’s post-lockdown tourism boom looks set to continue well into 2021, according to a tourism boss.
As restaurant owners report a rise in visitors, Vanessa Metcalfe, manager of Keswick Tourism Association, said: “The feedback we’ve been getting is that a lot more people are visiting Keswick than is normal for this time of year.
“A lot of our members, including B&Bs, self-catering and activity providers, have reported a very high percentage of people visiting who have never been to Keswick or the Lakes before.
“Holidaymakers who couldn’t get away because of travel restrictions or quarantining measures have ended up here, and they’ve enjoyed themselves so much they will definitely be coming back.”
Adam Slaughter, general manager of Bar eS, a tapas restaurant in the town’s Packhorse Court, said his customers had changed since lockdown restrictions eased.
He said: “We reopened on 4th July, and I think our clientele has changed massively since then.
“Before lockdown I would say around 30 per cent of our customers were people who had been here before, returning customers, and lots of them from Keswick. Now, the majority are people coming to Keswick for the first time.
“Only about five per cent of customers have been to Bar eS before.
“Lots of our new customers have told us they’ve come to the Lakes because they’ve booked a holiday in Portugal or Spain and it’s been cancelled.
“I’m 100 per cent behind this staycation trend. They’re a great idea and really what keeps us in business. Plus, it’s fantastic to have this many people introduced to the Lakes.”
Vanessa added: “Self-catering businesses are reporting they are fully booked until the end of September and even into October.”
Sally Fielding owns holiday cottage company Sally’s Cottages, based in Keswick. She said: “We’ve been busy this summer, but we’d always be pretty well booked up for then anyway.
“However, it looks as though autumn is going to be busier than usual. September bookings are currently up by 38 per cent.”
Lee Roe is the duty manager at the Youth Hostel Association Hostel in Keswick’s Station Road. He said the hostel was fully booked until September, and he expects October bookings to be filled up soon.
“Our rooms have been doing incredibly well since reopening post-lockdown,” he said. “We are operating at half capacity because of social distancing necessities, so our perception might be a little skewed, but I think we are just as busy as we were this time last year, if not more so.
“If a guest cancels a room, even the night before the booking, we are able to resell the room within 24 hours. It’s been a lot easier reselling our rooms this summer.”
Lee said that since reopening the only guests had been Brits and they were happy to follow safety codes and regulations provided by the hostel.
He added: “Our new guests have been pretty lovely, and we’ve not had any problems. Our returning guests are happy to be back in Keswick.”
Vanessa added that she had been monitoring data from VisitBritian, which has been doing weekly interviews with tourists.
“Their figures show that a very similar percentage of people want to take short breaks within the UK as would be normal for the October-March off-season,” she said.
“I think some people are not travelling in the UK now because they still have concerns due to coronavirus.
“These people will be looking to take breaks in the UK later in the year and this means the Lake District will have a longer season.”
Vanessa said that while increased littering, wild camping issues and irresponsible parking had been issues, they were problems often seen during the peak summer period anyway.
She added: “Overall, the positive impact of people visiting Keswick on staycations outweighs the negatives.
“It’s lovely to see families enjoying the Lake District. We’ve noticed a rise in the number of multi-generational families visiting. Parents, grandparents and kids are holidaying together.”
