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A hotel specialist has called for a new approach by the West Country holiday industry and tourists to address traffic gridlock.
Ed Jefferson, who covers the West County for the hotels team at real estate services company Colliers International, said changing mindsets about the traditional Friday evening and Saturday morning getaways could play a vital role in easing pressure upon roads.
Jefferson suggested that hotels should encourage its guests to vary their journey times and think about switching to a Monday to Sunday offering. He said: “We seem programmed to think in terms of a Friday afternoon getaway.There could be an argument for different change-over days for holiday cottages for instance.
“Some owners already operate on a Monday to Sunday basis as this allows their clients to avoid the Friday evening traffic and gives them a bit more time to do the laundry.If more people could be persuaded to vary their journey times it might reduce stress on traffic network and the people using it.”
“At one point the entire Purbeck peninsula in Dorset was virtually cut off by one set of roadworks – leaving motorists stranded for hours in boiling heat and hospitality businesses wondering where their customers had gone.
“The roadworks were eventually closed down – but they had caused bottlenecks on the already overstretched South Coast road network which took a long time to clear.”
