´óÏó´«Ã½

Two summers ago found me in upstate New York, staying at rather a fine, high-spec bed and breakfast.

Americans have adapted the British B&B concept into more of a boutique experience, with some premium to their prices.

They're big on antiques, and often themed, sometimes garishly. One option near Ithaca had rooms themed on poets. Another was green.
Another entirely, hideously pink. They were full of personality, and neither room nor breakfast were standardised.

One of the most striking aspects of the experience was the high quality of online marketing, with virtual tours as standard. Two years on, I'm still receiving personalised marketing e-mails and glossy mailshots.

Sadly, I have no plans to return soon, even for those breakfast pancakes with maple syrup, but I am struck by these family businesses'
doggedness in building and sustaining a market and loyal customers.
And I can't recall a similar enterprise in Britain ever using such initiative or making such effort - not on me anyway.

Quality destination

The challenge of keeping Britain's tourism industry internationally competitive is one of the main themes running through the report compiled by Deloitte and Oxford Economics for tourism promotion agency VisitBritain.

It identifies familiar challenges; a sector featuring a large number of small-scale enterprises, which are hard to co-ordinate for quality improvement and joint marketing to overseas visitors.

So one lesson drawn from it is that if tourism is to realise its potential - 35% real-terms growth over the next 10 years, boosted by landmark sports events from the London Olympics to the Glasgow Commonwealth Games to the Gleneagles Ryder Cup - government will have to provide the funding for co-ordinated destination marketing.

You could dismiss the report as timely, spending review-oriented special pleading from the agency that promotes Britain overseas. (In Scotland's case, it tends to promote Scotland most in the less traditional markets, while the entirely separate VisitScotland looks after the established ones - at least that's what VisitBritain claims, though its role has been a sore point in Scotland.)

Authentic experience

But there are also some lessons the industry might do well to take on board. One is to be reminded that it's a huge business - the fifth largest industry, and third biggest export earner. It ranks sixth in the world. That's no economic Cinderella, as it sometimes complains that it's seen. And while growth is sluggish in other sectors, tourism over the next 10 years is projected as being beaten only by construction, finance and business services (though you have to wonder if Deloitte has noticed what's been happening to them).

Britain has a unique and, in many ways, very successful tourism product. While there's economic uncertainty, this is a 'product' that can thrive from British staycationers, from weakened sterling and from the fact that it can't be produced more cheaply overseas.

But that's no cause for complacency. The tourist dollar and euro, and increasingly the tourist yuan and rupee, can be attracted to other highly competitive markets, with rising expectations of service standards.

The report reflects an industry that tends to be over-dominated by the London honeypot. It points out it is very important too for some rural communities.

It sees opportunities, but with the proviso that Britain capitalises on its 'authenticity'. That goes for all the hotels that need modernising. They, too, have to be authentic to fit in with the nation's unique selling proposition.

It also says the industry has to be wise to opportunities: the 'grey pound' being spent by more numerous older travellers, plus more health and wellbeing tourism.

Brakes on Heathrow

Many of the threats to continued growth are around air travel; higher taxes on it, constraints on its growth (by which they seem to mean the recently-abandoned plans for a new runway at Heathrow), and the risk that travellers will be dissuaded from flying by its climate change impact.

The report doesn't spell this out, but these risks must apply disproportionately in Scotland. The greater the distance from target markets means more dependence on air travel, while south east England has its rail and sea connections. And the more dependence on Heathrow for connections northwards, the more of a constraint from the shortage of capacity.

Scotland is specifically highlighted for a couple of risks to its continued growth, which Oxford Economics reckons at 3.3% in the average year for 10 years, and 20,000 jobs added to the 140,000 already directly employed.

One concern is that business travel is relatively weak. That could be seen as leisure tourism being relatively strong. But the report's authors believe Scotland needs to improve its offer on conference facilities if it is to bring business travel up to its potential. They don't offer much detail of where or what sort.

Dollar downside

The other concern is currency. The recent weakening of sterling is seen as a good thing. It's suggested that a 10% slide against the euro and dollar could bring in another one million visitors to Britain next year and 2012. These visitors would be expected to spend an extra £300m.

Yet Scotland's relative strength in attracting visitors from Canada and the US is seen as a source of currency threat. If the pound appreciates against those countries' dollars, that would hurt more in Scotland.

That seems an unnecessarily negative take on currency risk, while arguing that fluctuations can more generally work in the UK industry's favour.

If my experience of New York State's Finger Lakes is any guide, it might be more useful to look at that trans-Atlantic link to learn from the expectations North Americans have of hospitality industry standards, plus the imagination they bring to their marketing.

And responsibility for getting that right is for the whole industry, down to the level of Mrs McGlumphy's wee bed and breakfast.