Making the Most of the Tourism Off-Season

For the tourism and hospitality industry, the end of the summer season often marks the beginning of the next phase of investment.

Refurbishments, extensions, new accommodation, upgraded facilities and wider site improvements all require accurate information before designs can progress and works can begin. With the main summer season drawing to a close, now is a good time to get surveys underway and projects moving ahead of next season.

At Kemp, we support tourism businesses across the South West at every stage of this process. From topographical, utility and measured building surveys during the early design stages, through to 3D scanning, Revit models and Digital Twins, and later setting out and as-built surveys once works reach site.

Having worked within the tourism industry for decades, our teams are experienced in surveying everything from holiday parks and hotels to historic estates and some of the South West’s best-known visitor attractions.

Planning improvements for next season?

Different projects require different survey information, and getting the right data at the beginning can make the design and construction process much smoother.

For holiday parks and attractions planning new accommodation, facilities, access routes or wider site improvements, a topographical survey provides an accurate picture of the existing site, including levels, features, buildings and boundaries.

Where works involve excavation or changes to existing infrastructure, utility surveys can identify and map buried services, helping design teams plan around existing assets and reducing the risk of unexpected issues once works begin.

For hotels, attractions and other existing buildings, particularly those undergoing refurbishment or alteration, Measured Building Surveys (MBS) and 3D laser scanning can capture detailed information about the existing structure. The resulting data can be supplied as 2D drawings, point clouds or developed into detailed Revit models to support architects, designers and engineers.

Matterport Digital Twins offer another way to capture an existing space. For project teams, they provide an immersive digital record of a property that can be revisited remotely throughout the design and planning process, reducing the need for repeated site visits. Within the tourism industry, however, their use can extend beyond the project itself. The interactive model can also be used to give potential guests a virtual look around a hotel, holiday let, venue or attraction before they visit, providing an engaging way to showcase the space online.

And when plans become a reality, our engineering teams can continue supporting the project on site with setting out, machine control, monitoring and as-built surveys.

Surveying some of the South West’s best-known attractions

Our work within the tourism industry has taken our surveyors to some of the South West’s most recognisable destinations, including one we’ve been involved with from the very beginning.

Kemp’s relationship with the Eden Project dates back to its original construction, when our team carried out the setting out for the iconic Biomes. Since then, we’ve returned to Eden numerous times to provide surveying services as the site has continued to develop and evolve.

At the Minack Theatre, overlooking the Cornish coast at Porthcurno, our team carried out a full topographical survey of the site.

We’ve also completed a number of projects at St Michael’s Mount. These have included surveying boat landing points at different tide levels to assist with proposed improvements, as well as carrying out a measured building survey of the Blue Drawing Room.

Elsewhere, we’ve carried out repeat works at attractions and estates including the Cornish Seal Sanctuary, Lappa Valley and Lanhydrock, alongside topographical surveys at sites including the Donkey Sanctuary and Llama Lland.

The variety of these projects reflects the variety of the tourism industry itself. No two sites are quite the same, particularly when working around historic buildings, unusual terrain, existing infrastructure or attractions that need to remain operational around the works.

Supporting hotels and holiday parks

Our experience within tourism also extends across hotels, resorts and holiday parks throughout Cornwall, Devon and the wider South West.

We’ve completed multiple surveys and setting out works at Carbis Bay Hotel, Watergate Bay Hotel, Tregenna Castle, St Michaels Resort, The Nare, Hotel Meudon, Land’s End Hotel and Bodmin Jail Hotel, among many others.

Within the holiday park sector, our work has included sites operated by John Fowler Holidays, alongside Mother Ivey’s Bay Holiday Park, White Acres, Little Orchard Village, River Valley Country Park and Una St Ives.

At some of these sites, our involvement has spanned several projects and many years, returning as the businesses have continued to invest, develop and make improvements.

Get your next project underway

Whether the plans for this off-season involve refurbishing existing spaces, extending facilities, developing new accommodation or making improvements across a wider site, having accurate survey information in place is an important first step.

With Land, Utility, Measured Building and Engineering teams working across the South West, we can provide the information needed during the early design stages and continue supporting a project through construction and completion.

If improvements are on your agenda for the coming months, get in touch with our team to discuss the surveys and site support you need to get your next project underway.