Falling less than two-weeks since the latest government easing of lockdown restrictions and with a distinct staycation holiday boom, the town s hotels were fully-booked throughout the weekend. Tim Seward, chair of the BH Area Hospitality Association, said: Hotels were fully-booked and they were absolutely solid with 100 per-cent occupancy across all the hotels in town. If there were any hotels that had cancellations they were able to sell the rooms over again with 20-minutes to half-an-hour. We were at Air Festival levels across the town with good rates across the area as well. With the brilliant weather expected to continue well into the rest of half term, the booking-spree at the town s hotels shows no signs of slowing.
AN APP has been launched in a bid to crack down on crime and anti-social behaviour as Bournemouth prepares for its busiest summer ever. Those signed up to the Disc app can report street drinking, rough sleeping, graffiti, damage to street furniture, fly-tipping or other anti-social behaviour. It has been introduced by Bournemouth Coastal BID and will operate in Westbourne, West Cliff, East Cliff, Pier Approach, Boscombe, Southbourne, Pokesdown, Tuckton and Hengistbury Head. An influx of visitors is expected this summer due to continued uncertainty around foreign travel. And authorities are keen to avoid a repeat of last summer where a major incident was declared as crowds got out of control on the beaches and surrounding areas.
AS Bournemouth’s hotels start to emerge from the latest Covid lockdown, visitors should notice millions of pounds’ worth of difference. The eye-catching announcement of recent days was the news that the Savoy Hotel on the West Cliff had been bought by hotelier Nicolas Roach. The Christchurch-based chairman of the Nicolas James Group said the business had submitted plans for a £20milion redevelopment. Mr Roach, who built the Harbour Hotels brand, said the plan would create a five-star hotel with 100 bedrooms, as well as a spa and wellness club, rooftop and garden restaurants, alongside residential apartments. The news has gone down well in the industry.
HOSPITALITY bosses have welcomed the return of the Bournemouth Air Festival, saying the council’s full summer of events will help tourism bounce back. BCP Council confirmed the Air Festival would be returning in September and that it had plans for a programme of events “similar to 2019”. And it is a welcome boost to hoteliers, who had to remain closed for a large proportion of the last year.
Read more: TheBournemouth Air Festival is back for 2021, but will it look like before? Chairman of BH Area Hospitality Association (BAHA), Tim Seward, said: “In a normal year, pre-Covid, the air show and bank holiday weekend were the two that were fullest. This will add to the bounce back and will help everybody.