What wasn’t quite said (but we all heard anyway) 

I’ve spent decades around attractions where the beating heart is often a cheerful 18 to 20-year-old welcoming families through the doors. Well, next year, their wages will rise by about 8.5%, a much steeper increase than the 4.1% rise for over-21s that made the headlines. It’s a wonderful thing for young people trying to make their way in the world. 

A proper boost. And most of us remember starting out ourselves, grateful for every extra pound. But it does mean many attractions could have to make tough choices. Fewer seasonal roles. Thinner rotas. A bit less of the friendly bustle that makes places feel alive. Not because anyone wants that, simply because the sums won’t stretch as far as they once did. And for an industry built on human warmth and welcome, that’s a harder loss than any line on a spreadsheet can show.

And of course, with income tax bands remaining frozen, more people will quietly slip into higher thresholds without ever feeling any richer for it, the sort of fiscal sleight of hand that leaves households with less true disposable income just when days out and small adventures matter most. It all adds up to a little more pressure on visitors, and a little less wiggle room for the places that rely on them.

The government has frozen rail fares until 2027. A kind gesture, a bit like offering an extra biscuit at the café when the coffee machine is broken. Nice, genuinely, but it doesn’t quite fix the issue.Travel remains expensive, unpredictable, and occasionally bewildering. And our visitors feel that. When getting to an attraction costs nearly as much as getting in, families naturally think twice. We can’t blame them. 

£820 million set aside to help young people into work is something to applaud. If those pathways include tourism, hospitality and culture, brilliant. If not, we may end up waving politely from the sidelines again, wondering how such an enormous sector keeps getting overlooked. We don’t just offer jobs. We offer first steps, confidence, community, and in many cases, lifelong careers. Let’s hope the scheme recognises that. 

This is something that has been waiting in the wings for a while and the announcement allowing local authorities to introduce overnight visitor taxes has now made it a reality.. Now, these can be helpful if, and only if, the money is reinvested back into tourism. Bernard Donoghue from ALVA has been reminding us that we should all be speaking to our relevant authorities to make sure any income raised through ‘tourism tax’ supports marketing, place promotion and visitor experience. Otherwise, we risk charging guests a little extra only to offer them… well… nothing extra. And we all know how that story ends. 

Why “good news” doesn’t necessarily mean “good shape” 

Even with the hopeful notes in this Budget, the wider picture hasn’t changed much: 

• Visitor numbers still haven’t fully bounced back, and probably never will
• People are coming less often
• Costs remain stubbornly heavy
• Middle-income families are watching their budgets
• Staff teams are smaller, often stretched 

It’s not gloom, far from it, but it is reality. The sort we’ve lived with before, and no doubt will again. 

This is the part that keeps many of us smiling, even on difficult days. People still crave meaningful, joy-filled experiences. They still want places that spark wonder for children, curiosity for adults, and laughter for everyone in between. They want stories, encounters, memory-making days that stay with them long after they’ve gone home.

That appetite hasn’t dimmed, if anything, it’s deepened. And that’s where our strength still lies.

Revisit your financial models - Factor in the different wage rises for each age band. Keep an eye on rates. Consider the possible effects of visitor taxes.

Tell your value story beautifully - Visitors don’t just want “cheap”. They want “worthwhile”. They want to feel something, experience something, that creates memories they keep.

Optimise your marketing - Every pound should have a purpose. Make sure you understand how and where you are investing your marketing budgets and what this activity delivers for you. It’s not about spending more, it’s about spending it wisely and making sure you are optimising for maximise returns.

Look for new revenue streams - Some of our most beloved ideas came from picking up something half-baked and turning it into gold.

Prepare for shifting visitor behaviour - More day trips, longer drives, fewer overnight stays, the patterns are already forming.

This Budget doesn’t rebuild the sector. It doesn’t need to, we will do that, as we always have. What it does do is give us a slightly clearer view of the next stretch of road. And while it may be a little bumpy, the visitor economy has travelled far worse and still arrived smiling. Because in the end, our strength always comes from the people who keep the gates open, the lights on, the stories told, and the visitors welcomed, warmly, wholeheartedly, year after year.

And that, thankfully, is something no Budget can take away, even when it feels like it tries its best..