The credit crunch is persuading families to look closer to home for their leisure activities - and English Heritage says its Shropshire attractions are reaping the rewards.
The latest British Lifestyles Study reveals that one in five people have cut back on overseas holidays to help reduce their household expenditure, and are looking for short breaks and days out closer to home instead.
And English Heritage’s marketing manager for the west, Lucy Dhiman, said more people were looking to explore their local heritage instead, and signing up as members.
She said: “When we look at our sites like Stokesay Castle, we’ve found this year that the majority of memberships we are selling are to those living within an hour’s drive of the site, which suggests that people are looking at places on their own doorstep before heading further afield.
“People are starting to take an interest in their carbon footprint, and this, combined with high fuel costs, is actually encouraging people to stay closer to home when planning days out - and not even the appalling British summer weather will stop them!”
Over the last month, membership sales at Stokesay Castle are up thanks to a “15 months for the price of 12″ offer, which means that people can effectively pre-pay for their days out right through to summer 2009.
“The ‘Martin-Lewis effect’ means that people are now more savvy at planning their expenditure, right down to their leisure spend and looking at longer-term value when organising days out,” added Lucy.
“When they are shopping around, they see that it costs £55 for a family to get in to Warwick Castle, or £118 for a family day out at Alton Towers, but only £73 for a couple’s annual membership of English Heritage.”
By Carl Jones
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