For decades, British seaside towns have been known and revered for their sandy beaches, arcades and extravagant late night entertainment. The seaside holiday industry took off in the 1950s and hit what many call its heyday in the 1970s, when millions of people per year were traveling to seaside towns for weeks at a time. But today, this is no longer the case. The number of people traveling to British coastal towns is far fewer than ever before – especially on the east coast. Cheap travel overseas, modern technology and rising customer expectations are just a few of the reasons why many seaside towns are economically and socially struggling in what many people view as an irreversible trend of decline. One seaside town has been hit especially hard - Great Yarmouth. Many local business owners deeply involved in the community are struggling to make ends meet and keep up with rising customer expectations. Lawmakers struggle to fund updates to the town’s aging infrastructure. Some buildings and attractions found in Yarmouth today have remained unchanged for more than four decades.
Yesterday’s Town is a multi-media video journalism project that investigates the changes gripping the British coastal tourism industry. Six renowned local business owners in Great Yarmouth share their thoughts about why the coastal tourism industry is faltering and what they’re doing to keep their businesses alive. A large divide exists in Yarmouth between those who think the seafront needs to modernize in order to attract more visitors and those who value the history and believe the decades-old architecture should stay. Despite setbacks, many in Yarmouth believe a comeback is possible for the town. The reports in this App incorporate the opinions of local tourism experts as well as economic and social science reports published by British research institutions. But more importantly, it tells the stories of the people and businesses this economic change affects most.
This project was completed as a senior capstone and was funded by the Renee Crown Honors Program at Syracuse University.