Tourism Businesses Face Continued Pressures as Confidence Falls
New figures unveiled at Cumbria Tourism’s November Members’ Meeting show continued pressure on tourism businesses across the county, with rising costs, reduced consumer spending and concerns around future viability all weighing on confidence.
The latest Cumbria Tourism Business Tracker Survey, sponsored by Lamont Pridmore, conducted just ahead of the latest Budget, shows that 80% of businesses are concerned about increased costs.
Almost three quarters, 74%, are concerned about the wider economic climate and its impact on consumer spending, while 62% are concerned about high energy costs and 61% about inflation.
Concerns around business rates have also continued to increase. More than half of businesses, 54% are now concerned about business rates.
More than half, 52%, are also concerned about guest numbers, while 60% are worried about passing increased costs on to customers.
Six in ten said they had been adversely affected by changes to National Insurance contributions, while the same proportion reported a negative impact from changes to business rates. Half said changes to the National Insurance threshold and National Minimum Wage had negatively affected their business.
Overall, 64% said changes announced in the November 2025 Budget had reduced their profits.
Half of respondents said they were holding back investment plans, while 48% said they would try to absorb additional costs.
The impact is also being felt in staffing decisions. More than one in five businesses, 22%, said they planned to reduce staffing levels or stop recruiting, while 20% expected to reduce or stop planned pay increases.
There are also growing concerns around longer term viability.
While 77% of businesses remain confident about surviving the next six months and 68% are confident about reaching the end of 2027, confidence falls significantly over a longer period.
Just 41% said they were confident about their survival over the next five years.
Meanwhile, 17% said they were considering selling their business and 14% feared their business could be at risk of closure.
Gill Haigh, Managing Director of Cumbria Tourism, said: “These latest findings show just how challenging conditions remain for many tourism businesses across Cumbria.
“Businesses are continuing to deal with rising costs at the same time as visitors are being more careful about how and where they spend. That combination is having a very real impact on confidence, staffing and future investment.
“What is particularly concerning is the fall in confidence over the longer term. Tourism businesses have shown enormous resilience over recent years, but we are increasingly hearing from businesses that difficult decisions are having to be made.
“Cumbria’s visitor economy supports 71,000 jobs and plays an important role in communities right across the county. These findings give us an important picture of what businesses are experiencing and will help inform our work with partners to make sure their concerns are understood and inform decision making.”
The survey is sponsored by Cumbria Tourism Strategic Partner Lamont Pridmore, whose Chief Executive Graham Lamont said:
“The latest findings paint a sobering picture of the pressures facing Cumbria’s tourism businesses. Rising operating costs, ongoing recruitment challenges, weaker forward bookings and continued economic uncertainty are all taking their toll on business confidence across the sector. While tourism businesses have shown remarkable resilience, many are now having to make difficult decisions around investment, recruitment and future growth plans.
“The Tracker shows that confidence has weakened significantly over the longer term, with more businesses questioning their future viability and some even considering exiting the sector altogether.
“The impact of measures announced in the 2026 Budget will support some businesses, particularly the changes to Business Rates Relief and the removal of the standing charge on gas bills, but rising employment and labour costs are set to continue, adding to business concerns, reducing profitability and making it harder for businesses to plan with certainty.
“The recent Budget changes have, on balance, increased cost pressures rather than eased them overall. At a time when many businesses are focused on survival as much as growth, creating the right environment for investment and long term sustainability has never been more important.”