Covid: Hereford expects tourism boom with people put off abroad

Bed and breakfasts are optimistic this could be their best year yet, and the group behind the promotion of Herefordshire as a staycation destination is expecting a bumper year.

Heidi Chamberlain Jones, managing director of Eat Sleep Live Herefordshire, said 2020 had been a tough year due to Covid-19, but places to stay were now booking up very quickly.

She said self-catering places were fully booked over the Easter period, and with the school summer holidays now lurking, bookings were flooding in.

"My observations and conversations seem to have been early on the self-catering places for booked up. Some of them were rollovers, but as soon as Easter came you couldn’t get a place here.

“People are booked right through to the end of September and October, but B&Bs were slower.

“Bed and breakfasts are more traditionally last minute. You’ll book a hotel or holiday cottage in advance, but you won’t book a bed and breakfast as far in advance.

“They were finding more than ever that people were making last minute decisions, and now it’s all coming together, especially with the school holidays coming and self-catering places being booked up.

“It seems to be countrywide, but the bed and breakfasts are now getting full up.”

Herefordshire Council previously said tourism contributes £416 million to the economy a year, equal to £2,311 per resident.

Steven Craddock, who run Charades Guest House in Hereford’s South Bank Road with his wife Helen, said he was at least 70 per cent booked until the end of August, and it was good to see visitors coming to the city and spending.

Steven Craddock and his wife Helen run Charades Guest House in Hereford. Picture: Rob Davies

He said he used to have a lot of people staying for business, but the majority are now tourists booking for longer periods, up to a week, whereas before it was mainly two nights just for a wedding.

“It’s more older people, I think it’s because they’ve been full vaccinated and they’re in a position where they can travel more and they’re coming for longer.

“I would say from about May 17 we’d been running at about 95 per cent up until now, and July is looking 70 per cent and August is looking 70 per cent full as well.

“I would say June has been about 98 per cent full.

“The month hasn’t ended yet, but we’ve had 13 empty rooms for one night for the entire month.”

He added: “We’ve got the black and white trail, places to see, the cathedral, and people from bigger cities come her and really enjoy it and say how lucky we are.”