Cornwall’s tourism industry needs to work much more closely together to promote the county as an all year round, all weather, experience rich destination and not rely on often failed forecasts of barbeque summers, according to one leading West Cornwall holiday firm.

A survey of over 500 groups of holidaymakers in Cornwall, undertaken by West Cornwall Cottage Holidays has revealed that only 10% say fine weather is the key element to their holiday.

Instead, the majority of visitors come to the county to enjoy the wide range of experiences, including walking and cycling, sea sports, historic gardens and houses and in many cases touring the county and enjoying the sights and sounds that it has to offer.

An overwhelming 98% of those surveyed said it was the location itself that was the most important attraction when coming on holiday to Cornwall, with 92% also basing their holiday choice on their interests and not the weather.

According to West Cornwall Cottage Holiday’s MD Austyn Hallworth, the survey findings highlight that visitors choose Cornwall not because of the weather, but because of the wide variety of year round activities and experiences that the county can offer and the tourism industry really needs to listen and work together more closely to achieve this.

“After the last three washout summers culminating in the predicted barbeque summer last year that failed to materialise, if Cornwall was a beach and weather destination, we would be dead on our feet by now.

“But the reality is that last year, on the back of two poor weather years and a recession, we saw increased numbers of people booking their holidays with us. The survey has confirmed without question that it is not the weather that is the driving factor in people’s decision to come to Cornwall, but the wealth of things to do, places to go and sights to see once they are here, whether that is surfing and mountain biking, or visiting country homes and gardens.

“But as an industry do we really get that message across? I would have to say I don’t think we do. Destination Marketing really is the key.

“If the weather is good during a visitors stay then fantastic, it’s an added bonus and the beaches of the county come into their own, further adding to a visitors experience. But what we are being told is that visitors do not see Cornwall as a weather dependent destination – it is the UK after all – but one that can offer them the opportunity to do the things they really enjoy,” said Austyn.

“We don’t need to hang our hopes on barbeque summers only to be disappointed when they do not materialise.

“As an industry however what we really need to do is pull and work together much more closely – accommodation and experience providers and travel operators alike – to really push Cornwall as the all year round, experience rich destination that it is – because the fact is that tourism is continuing to change and evolve and we have to ensure that as an industry we gear up, reflect, offer and promote the things that visitors are looking for.

“If we don’t, the danger is that those regions that do destination marketing more effectively and vigorously than we do, will attract the visitors that currently come to Cornwall,” he added.

Other findings from the survey revealed that 42% of those surveyed also planned a holiday abroad in addition to their UK break, 79% planned to come back to Cornwall in 2010 and 70% would also be taking short break holidays, the overwhelming majority in Autumn and Spring.

Malcolm Bell who will be taking up post as Head of Tourism for Cornwall on the 4th January 2010  believes the survey findings reflect the way in which visitors want to experience Cornwall today.

“I think it is positive that visitors to the county, through surveys such as this, are saying they choose to visit Cornwall because they enjoy being here and because it delivers the experiences they are looking for, as that reflects a lot of the hard work across all aspects of the tourism industry that has been done over the last 15 to 20 years.

“Can we do more to improve tourism in Cornwall– absolutely, and as an industry we must look at where those improvements need to be made and work together to ensure that our existing visitors not only keep coming back but that we attract new visitors and ensure theirs is a positive experience also,” said Mr Bell.

The survey was conducted by West Cornwall Cottage Holidays in October, sent out to its customers who had stayed with them during the 2009 season