While the number of tourists may be a test of the effectiveness of promotional and marketing efforts made by a country, in economic terms, what matters more is the volume of tourism and foreign exchange receipts derived from them. Obviously this volume depends on the average length of stay of tourists in a country. When considering the hotels offering
B&B York has made significant progress in this respect. Also the amenities on offer have forced the tourists and other visitors to prolong their stay while simultaneously increasing their spending on various goods and other foods stuffs.
It can be gathered from the tourism statistics that the average stay per tourist has registered an increasing trend during the 1981-84 period. The general presumption is that the longer the average length of stay, the greater is the foreign exchange receipts to the country. From the point of view when the Asian average was 24.6 days, the South-East Asian average was the highest, i.e., 35.5 days in 1983 and when the Asian average was 28.0 days, the South-East Asian average was again the highest i.e., 34.1 days. This analysis for 1982-84 brings out the fact that while visitors from West Asia have registered a rising trend, the other three Asian Regions have shown a declining trend.
In order to increase the average length of stay of the tourists, from South Asia, South-East Asia and East Asia the tourism promotion council should concentrate not only on providing greater tourist facilities for these tourists but also removing on various irritants like red-tapism, rule-orientation and over bureaucratization. However, experts warn that flexibility is good, but it should not result in rule bending for nefarious means.
In recent years when considering the number of high profile visitors availing b&b, the cream of the society from practically all the continents are seen entering into York and availing the best amenities for prolonged periods of time. They are availing such amenities either as part of their business trip or as tourists intending to spend their holidays in Britain. When a business delegation hires the services of b&b centers, it ensures a steady income to the particular hotel or resort for a definite period of time. The popularity of b&b has now gone places and the amenities on offer are widely discussed in many forums.