COACH PARKING
COACH AND BUS WEEK ending: Aug 29 2002 p.20 emap.plc
Where's the coach park? Attractions such as Stonehenge -
which plans landscaping like this, need to consider the coach industry.
| Open platform | COACH PARKING |
COACH AND BUS WEEK ending: Aug 29 2002 p.20 emap.plc |
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| The Changing face of UK coach Tourism and how it is influenced? | |
| The important thing for tourist attractions and towns to note when making changes to routes and access is that the coach market is a significant slice of their tourist trade and we vote with our wheels, says the CPT's Coaching Consultant Bob Pilbeam | |
| It was interesting to read the article in CB W on the
proposals for Stonehenge (CB W, August 15) - in particular, the description of a shuttle
bus from the coach park to within walking distance of the Stone Circles. What is walking
distance? After all, one man's walking distance is another man's marathon. Two years ago, I wrote on behalf of Confederation of Passenger Transport (CPT) to English Heritage to ask it to consider the coach industry and the very special character of its passengers, ie, elderly, infirm, young or those who go on coach holidays because of the close supervision they encounter. It is, therefore, important that, if it is absolutely necessary that passengers must move from one 'bulk people carrier' to another, the new vehicle can take the same number of passengers as the coach, ie, 53. Can you imagine how a Japanese tourist guide would manage if he was only able to transfer half of his coach group on to the Environmentally-friendly shuttle bus? This aside, the visit to Stonehenge will increase from one to one and a half hours to two to three hours. Certainly from a London perspective this will make a difference to how coach and tour operators plan their day out from the capital. Before the days of motorways, |
Bath was not really a viable day visit from London but later
Stonehenge, Bath and even Salisbury could be included in a one-day trip. Salisbury has
often been dropped in recent years as exiting London now takes longer, but Salisbury may
now be the benefactor of a Stonehenge revitalisation. I would predict this happening
because Bath with its bus gates and proposed closure of Poultney Bridge to coaches does
not facilitate an easy coach visit whereas Salisbury, which is nearer to Stonehenge, has
gone out of its way to attract coaches. So who will be the winners and losers when it
comes to the crunch? I am not sure but I do know that tourists only have a limited budget
and a limited time to spend it. |
You will have read last week (CB W, August 15) how coach
access to the Tower of London is changing. I ponder on how this will affect structure of a
London tour and the Tower coffers. The adjacent retail outlets could certainly suffer as the photo stop and visit to the Tower shop will be a thing of the past. The Tower of London -)n is a fabulous visit but the difficulties for group management may encourage tour operators to consider an alternate museum or art gallery where entry is free and access easier. My last example is Cambridge where, in the next few years, Silver Street will be pedestrianised and a new coach 'set-down' and 'pick-up' point be required. I caution the council to avoid taking the Canterbury approach. If it does, who else will suffer? Will the change in Cambridge's coach facilities see more operators visiting Duxford Air Museum in preference to Cambridge or will Duxford see fewer visitors as operators abandon the Cambridge trips entirely?
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