It is feeling as if 2012 has been ‘winterised’ now. Its covers are on and it’s been put away for another year. But how have the last twelve months been?

We’d like you to tell us all about it in our annual survey of the whole wet leisure industry; more on ‘how’ and ‘why’ later.

We’ve also got a bit of Christmas cheer for you to enjoy.

Good King Wenceslas looked out…

Now that it seems to get dark in the middle of the afternoon and it isn’t all that bright first thing in the morning, we all have a tendency to look back over the year soon to be gone.

It has hardly been a ‘boom’ year but on the other hand, none of us were expecting it to be, were we? Neither has it been the financial apocalypse that some parts of the media were forecasting.

We have had some highs and some lows.

The first part of the season was overshadowed by the hosepipe ban and water shortages. We seemed to move from there directly into one of the wettest summers on record.

By the end of July we at least had the Olympics to take our minds off things and everyone agrees that London exceeded all expectations in terms of results and how the whole ‘show’ was staged and managed.

Look to the future now. It’s only just begun.

What is definitely true, however you found this year, is that next year will be different.

That may sound a little obvious but its good to keep a sight of just how much the world can change.

In 1644 Parliament banned all Christmas celebrations and feasts and that ban stayed in force for 16 years.

The Christmas tree feels like one of the oldest traditions of the season but it was introduced to the UK by Prince Albert in the 1840’s.

Santa in his famous red and white robes appears to be as old as time but may well have been started by Coca Cola adverts from the 1930’s.

Food, drink, Christmas trees and images of Santa Claus are now very much part of the ‘business’ of Christmas and our businesses – both yours and mine – should change, adapt and evolve too.

In the last couple of months we have written and produced two eBooks that might have a positive impact on how you do business and what business you actually do.

The first book is full of marketing advice written specifically for businesses in the wet leisure industry.

The second is called the Sauna eBook and it contains all the information you might need if you have been considering expanding into the sauna market.

The Christmas break will give you an opportunity to read the books and see what influence they might have on ways to improve your business results next year.

He’s making a list and checking it twice.

Whatever sector of the wet leisure industry you are in it is incredibly useful to know how your business is doing in comparison to the industry as a whole.

How have other people seen trading conditions in the last 12 months and how confident are they for the future?

What sort of marketing activity are they doing and what works best for them?

What are the biggest challenges that people in our industry expect to face in 2013?

Last year’s Wet Leisure Survey was a great success and started to build that overall picture of the industry that has been sadly lacking for so long.

The survey is completely anonymous and obviously the more responses that we get, the more accurate the final picture will be.

We are all in this industry together and the more information on the true size of our market and what lies ahead, the easier it will be for all of us to plan accordingly.

The Snowman.

The animated film of Raymond Briggs’ Christmas tale, The Snowman, has us floating in the air over Brighton and that takes us to SPATEX.

The results of the survey will be available for everyone to share, free of charge, and in time for the Brighton show.

You will be able to pick up a printed copy from the Golden Coast stand or they will be available to download.

If you are attending the show, then another good reason to visit the Golden Coast stand is that we will be exhibiting a range of fresh innovations to help everyone in the trade develop new and profitable business.