Marketing a rural idyll

With an Indian summer in prospect, my thoughts have turned to the marketing of rural areas to people living in cities. In 1950, the population living in UK cities was 79% – which is a frighteningly large figure – but one set to rise to 92.2% by 2030! In fact globally over half of the planet’s population now live in cities, with the proportion set to rise further.

The rural business challenge

The pressure is on for businesses involved in tourism in rural parts of the country,  to make the most of the opportunity to market the rural idyll that so many of us take for granted, to the urban dwelling majority. Unsurprisingly that’s going to mean serving city dwellers needs better.  Whether we’re an acommodation provider (even if just for visiting friends and relations),  a self catering operator, a farm shop, or an operator of autumnal fungi forays or boat trips, it looks like if we’re going to be really successful we need to make sure we understand and serve the needs of city dwellers.  NPC’s Country Living magazine certainly understands the business model, (and there’s a Hearst Communication US version as well). Many people dream of living in the country, and enjoy reading about it; but a short break or holiday/vacation is likely to be their reality.

The really interesting thing from a rural businesses point of view, is that I know that some  of these city dwellers taking a trip into rural areas of the UK this year still have plenty of money to spend. And how do I know…?

A Daylesford experience

I started to look back for evidence from my own experiences visiting the Cotwolds and Dorset this summer. Immediately I thought of   Daylesford. Owned by Lady Carole Bamford (wife of Sir Anthony, of the JCB empire), it’s a complex of rural farm buildings near the family estate, in Kingham, between Chipping Norton and Stow on the Wold, in Gloucestershire. They also have various shops in districts like Pimlico and Notting Hill, concessions in Harvey Nichols and Selfridges in London, and even a concession in the Bergdorf Goodman store on 5th Avenue, New York. Daylesford has become a destination in it’s own right, responsible for a big increase in local house prices in that part of the Cotswolds, to the evident satifaction of locals including Liz Hurley, Kate Moss and Jeremy Clarkson, who all patronise  Daylesford.

Daylesford’s customers are offered everything from pilates classes and a hay barn spa, to designer chicken arks and gardening tools ; and children can wear their mini cashmere jumpers and join in butter making classes. It wasn’t particularly crowded when we  visited; but those who were there were spending – a lot. Personally I couldn’t resist buying a jar of organic bramble jelly as a gift for my mother; as well as a Daylesford branded hessian potato sack and a book entitled ‘A Slice of Organic Life’ as a treat for myself. It just seemed – well appropriate, somehow. My husband drew the line at me swanning round our local Waitrose with a Daylesford shopping bag, but perhaps now I regret not buying one of those as well!

A bright future for rural retailing

Daylesford as a brand of super farm shop and lifestyle business points the way to the future for rural retailing, and a successful one at that.  Is there room for other competitors? Yes. Some are already out there. Look at the businesses run by people like Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall of River Cottage in Dorset, and Sarah Raven and her Cutting Garden in Sussex and Kent; or specialist craft galleries like  Dansel in Abbotsbury, Dorset where I made an impulse purchase of a bird sculpture by Brian Dawson.

So if you provide accommodation for visitors or business travellers, or if you’re involved in a rural business in any way, my advice this week is get to know innovative local retailers, visit their websites, offer links to them on your  web site, and tell your guests about them. They’ll thank you for it. The business owners will thank you for it, and might agree to link their website to you.

People who like what they see at places like Daylesford are likely to recommend them to others. A great rural retail destination can even provide the reason for people to make a trip in the first place, or to return.

If you own a rural retail business yourself, there’s much to be learned from the successful branding and merchandising of businesses like Daylesford.

Further reading

A Slice of Organic Life, edited by Sheherazade Goldsmith, Dorling Kindersley £16.99

Until next week…

PS Do you know any innovative rural retailers ? I’d love to hear about them.

Meet a Summer 2009 UK ‘staycationer’

Introducing Virtual Viv

This is the first post of a new weekly blog.  Here you’ ll find new angles and original thought on UK tourism and marketing in the visitor economy; and  opportunities to benefit from my personal experiences. If you like what you read,  sign up for automatic RSS alerts, and then you can be among the first to read my latest post.

In introducing myself. I’d like you to think of me as a guide. Someone you’d be happy to have as a commentator, if, like me,  you’re fascinated by what’s happening right now in UK tourism, and most especially if you want to make a success of marketing a business or destination that serves the UK visitor economy, perhaps with London 2012 in mind. I’ve no particular axe to grind, so I can offer you a completely  independent view of things.

This year, for the first time in many years, I didn’t go abroad in the summer holidays. I was among many Britons to spend a ‘staycation’ in the UK.  In peak season I went to Stratford Upon Avon, Bath and the West Country.   I visited the cities of Leeds, Durham and Newcastle. I spent time on the Jurassic Coast of  Dorset. where the sailing is going to be taking place in 2012. And yes, it did rain, quite a lot sometimes; but I still enjoyed myself.

Why I became a staycationer

Well firstly the Met. Office forecast a ‘barbecue summer’ (which didn’t really happen  in the West Country in July); secondly it seemed like a good idea to check out potential universities in the region, with a family member’s UCAS application in mind; and thirdly it was ages since our family had spent a summer holiday in the UK, and we thought it might prove to be a less expensive option, (although we ended up pushing the boat out in some rather nice hotels).

2009 staycation trends

It seems like I was not alone, with the Office of National Statistics recently reporting a 17% drop in the number of Britons travelling abroad this year, the lowest number for seven years. In spite of this, we’ve still got some way to go, since we’re still spending more  (£20 billion a year at the last count) on holidays abroad than those taken at home.

If you’re involved in tourism, and you went on a ‘staycation’ in the UK this summer, why not tell me about what you enjoyed. I’d like to get a dialogue going, to make the whole thing more interesting for us all.

Recommended Staycation reading:

‘Adventures on the High Teas’ by Stuart Maconie, who goes in search of Middle England.

Until next week…