A Welcome Shift in How We Measure Tourism’s Role

For years, those of us working in tourism and hospitality have known the value we bring to our communities but proving it hasn’t always been easy. Visitor numbers, occupancy rates and spend per head have their place, but they don’t capture the full story of what our sector does for people and places.

That’s why the introduction of the Social Productivity Index from UKHospitality is such a welcome step. It gives us, for the first time, a meaningful way to articulate the wider impact we’ve always known was there.

At Bluestone, we’ve built our model around the idea of profit with purpose. We are a business, but our purpose is clear: to make people happy, naturally. That starts with our team. It’s only a genuinely happy team that can go on to create the magical experiences our guests deserve. That doesn’t happen by chance – it’s something we invest in, every day.

Many of our leaders started in entry-level roles. They’ve gained skills, qualifications and confidence through lived experience and internal progression. More than 85% of our leaders have been promoted from within, and that number continues to grow. Through the Bluestone Academy, we make sure there are no barriers to opportunity. Background, education or prior qualifications don’t determine whether someone can succeed here. What matters is potential, and a willingness to grow.

That approach has a direct impact on social mobility in our local area. In Pembrokeshire, we know that many young people leave in search of meaningful careers elsewhere. We want to show that they don’t have to. There are great careers to be had right here, in a beautiful part of the world, with opportunities to progress. And we’re proud to be an employer that enables people to stay, live and thrive locally.

One of the reasons we’re able to do this is because we operate all year round. We’ve invested heavily in weatherproofing the business so that whatever the season – or the weather – there’s something for our guests to enjoy. From Kingdom of the Elves to our Winter Lights experiences, we’ve created immersive events that bring people in during the quieter months. That keeps demand stable and allows us to offer permanent roles that suit people’s lives. It also helps us retain our staff – something that can be a real challenge in more seasonal models of tourism.

We’re also seeing encouraging signs that the season is stretching more broadly across the year. Places like Tenby are busier in November than they were a decade ago, and visitors are coming for different reasons and at different times. That helps us – and others in the region – plan with greater confidence and offer better, more consistent experiences to guests and locals alike.

The challenge has always been how to prove this broader value. The Social Productivity Index is a genuine breakthrough. It gives us the tools to show how our sector contributes not just economically, but socially. It recognises the importance of careers, of place, of wellbeing. It reflects the things we’ve always cared about but haven’t always been able to quantify.

We’ve worked hard to lead in sustainability in its broadest sense. We were recently awarded the King’s Award for Enterprise in Sustainable Development – recognition not just of our environmental efforts, but of how we integrate wellbeing, community and climate into everything we do. This sort of joined-up thinking has always been part of our DNA. Now, with the Index, there’s a framework that supports and encourages more of the sector to do the same.

Tourism and hospitality are sometimes seen as peripheral to the wider economy, or judged only by short-term metrics. But the truth is that we create long-term value – in people’s lives, in local economies, and in the health of our communities. The Index allows us to show that clearly and credibly. It gives weight to the things that matter most. And for a business like ours, it provides legitimacy to the work we’ve always done – work that, at last, we can measure in the way it deserves.

Rebecca Rigby talks about this and more in the Business News Wales Tourism & Hospitality podcast episode How Should We Measure the Impact of Hospitality? Listen to the podcast HERE