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East Midlands enjoys rise in visitors
East Midlands Tourism (EMT) has revealed that the value of tourism and the visitor economy has increased to £5.3bn since 2003.
Spending by overseas and domestic visitors has increased by 3 per cent to £2bn.
The findings are part of the second major study on the economic impact of tourism in the region. The first – published last year – looked at the EMT economy in 2003, while the new research covers 2004 and 2005.
Richard Dickinson, EMT chief executive, said: “This research is incredibly valuable because it provides a detailed and accurate picture of the region’s visitor economy. The headline figures are tremendously encouraging, showing steady growth in staying visitor numbers, tourism revenue and market share despite a difficult period for the tourism sector.
“They endorse the pro-active strategies being employed by EMT and the Destination Management Partnerships (DMPs) to increase the amount of overnight tourism in the region.”
The study fund that the number of overnight trips by visitors from home and abroad increased from 14.8 million in 2003 to 15.4 million in 2005 – a rise of almost 4 per cent.
In addition, the number of overnight visitor trips increased 3.8 per cent to nearly 15 million and expenditure increased by around 3 per cent to almost £2bn.
The research was undertaken by Global Tourism Solutions (UK) – owner and operator of the Scarborough Tourism Economic Activity Monitor (STEAM), which quantifies the local economic impact of tourism from both stay and day visitors. Details: www.enjoyenglandseastmidlands.com