The business behind two of West Cornwall’s best known inns has reported a dramatic increase in February trade compared to last year.
Illustrating the devastating impact that last year’s winter storms had on local tourism, Eatdrinksleep, which runs The Old Coastguard in Mousehole and The Gurnard’s Head near Zennor, has seen year on year turnover in February increase by 39.4%, with room occupancy at 76.5% compared to 49.8% in 2014.
Turnover in February at The Old Coastguard was up by 41.9% with occupancy of 71.7% in its 14 bedrooms against 42.1% in February 2014.
Sales at The Gurnard’s Head lifted 35.8% and occupancy was 86.2% in its seven bedrooms. Turnover over the whole of January and February at The Gurnard’s Head was up by 35% and for the whole Cornwall business, 2015 has seen a strong start with sales up by 29.1%.
Edmund Inkin, joint owner of Eatdrinksleep, commented: “We knew from previous years that Cornwall can be a vibrant tourist destination right through the year. The storms last year were just so devastating to the region, not only physically but also in how they affected the minds of those who would normally visit. It is good to show again that guests will come to Cornwall from January right through to December.
“We’ve managed to achieve high occupancy levels without resorting to the online discounting agents used by many hotels and which we think are a leech on the profitability of small hotels in this industry. Our guests seem to respond well to our packaged offers and we are seeing higher levels of cross-over business than we have ever seen before.”
