Statutory licensing scheme for visitor accommodation providers: views of consumers and residents

This statutory licensing scheme for visitor accommodation providers report presents findings on the survey conducted of a sample of UK domestic trip intenders and Welsh residents on their view of some aspects of the scheme’s proposals.

Attitudes amongst domestic trip-takers

Compliance with health and safety requirements is clearly important for domestic trip takers/intenders (intending a UK holiday or short break in the next 12 months) when booking accommodation.

• Accommodation that is ‘operating safely’ is considered important for the vast majority (89%).
• ‘The ability to raise concerns or complaints about standards with an independent body’ is regarded as important for 3 in 4 (76%).
• Notably, of the different conditions measured, ‘accommodation not operating safely’ was regarded as the leading factor that would put intenders off booking accommodation, 59% saying they would probably/definitely not book in this scenario, ahead of ‘not offering good value for money’ (56%).
• The majority (62%) of domestic trip intenders are not aware that there is currently no scheme requiring accommodation providers to confirm they meet certain health and safety requirements to operate.
• A majority (83%) of domestic trip intenders stated they would be ‘more likely’ to book accommodation if there was a legal requirement to confirm compliance with health and safety; a slightly larger majority (85%) stated they would be ‘more confident’ in their personal safety if this legal requirement existed.

Attitudes amongst Welsh residents

• Nearly 3 in 5 (59%) Welsh residents believe they get ‘some’ or ‘a lot of’ tourism in their local area, rising to 7 in 10 (70%) of residents of North Wales. 
• Of those that attract at least ‘some’ tourism to their local area, there is a general perception that the number of accommodation providers has increased in the last 5 years or so, highest amongst residents of North and Mid Wales.
• The biggest perceived negative impacts of increasing visitor accommodation is ‘litter or pollution’ (50% seeing it as having a fairly/very negative impact), ‘ease of parking’ (47%) and ‘ability of local people to find a house to rent or buy in the community’ (41%).  
• The biggest perceived positive impact of increasing visitor accommodation is to ‘the local economy’ (69% seeing it as having a very/fairly positive impact). 
• Similar to domestic trip intenders, most Wales residents (71%) were unaware there is no scheme requiring accommodation providers to confirm compliance with health and safety requirements to operate. When asked what impact such a scheme would have on their local area, the response was broadly positive; nearly 7 in 10 (68%) believe it would have a positive impact on ‘health and safety’, believing such a scheme would drive up standards and ensure compliance. Around two-thirds (65%) believe that it would have a positive impact on ‘the local economy’, perhaps driven by a sense that improved standards would also encourage more tourism. 
• There were very few perceived negative impacts of such a scheme, the most negative being its impact on the ‘ability of local people to find a house to rent or buy in the local community’ (just 17% negative and 49% positive).