Cornish hotels report uptick in bookings following G7 announcement

While it is not confirmed that it is the G7 Summit that is driving interest, hotel rooms and self-catering properties operated in Cornwall by the Stein family have seen a 110% uplift in the past week in bookings.

Meanwhile, David Richards, owner of the 19-bedroom Idle Rocks and St Mawes hotel, said the Idle Rocks had seen a "considerable increase in bookings either side and during the weekend" of the summit, with the hotel now fully booked for this period.

He added: "We hope this provides an opportunity for the local economy to thrive following a challenging period."

The uplift in bookings will be a welcome boost to Cornish hospitality businesses following a year of repeated closures and restrictions in 2020 that affected trading. Last year Cornwall Council estimated that the first lockdown alone resulted in an estimated £630m loss to its tourism sector by the end of June.

Profitroom, which helps hoteliers drive direct bookings, has said it is seeing a rise in demand for the UK in general, especially from March onwards and the Easter and May bank holidays. A spokesperson said hoteliers need to be able to respond to "instant demand" generated from positive announcements from the press and government; for example when the prime minister announced vaccine roll-out success on 17 January, Profitroom saw a surge in bookings for the following three days, which meant bookings in this period outpaced the previous year's year-on-year during the same time period.