A “huge loss of bedroom accommodation” and dwindling visitor numbers is making it harder for operators to reinvest in Weston-super-Mare, warns Grand Pier director Michelle Michael.

Michelle Michael MBE, director of the Grand Pier, has warned that Weston-super-Mare faces mounting pressures from declining visitor numbers, with reduced revenues set to temper reinvestment on the pier.

She points to a shortage of overnight accommodation as one of the most damaging factors hitting the resort’s seaside sector.

“There’s been a huge loss of bedroom accommodation in our region,” she said. “The Pontins site has been taken over by Hinkley, so that’s 500 beds gone. Then we’ve got a hotel across the road, the Grand Atlantic, that’s been closed for over a year. And there are a couple of other parks that have switched from tourists to long-term lettings. As a collective, that makes a huge difference to us because we would get that visitor number coming in and out.”

Micheal added that customer behaviour is also shifting toward value-led, experiential spending, demanding constant reinvention and making capital allocation more difficult.

“People are a lot more experiential with their spending,” she explained. “In order for us to keep them coming back, we have to reinvent the model. But when you’re working with a declining income due to fewer customers it’s difficult to invest in ways to reinvent and impress people.”

Even one of the hottest summers on record has not offset the challenge, with many businesses reporting underwhelming footfall.

“I think we’ve had a fantastic boost to it by the weather,” Michael acknowledged. “But our visitor numbers have been quite considerably down and I think most attractions have been saying that really.”

Little wheel spin and spin

Michelle Michael said……. “In order for us to keep them coming back, we have to reinvent the model. But when you’re working with a declining income due to fewer customers it’s difficult to invest in ways to reinvent and impress people……