THERE’S good news for south Warwickshire’s tourism industry.
New figures reveal that it is on track to return to pre-pandemic visitor levels and spending by the end of the year.
Around 9.9million day and overnight trips were made to the area in 2022, resulting in £625million being spent in the region.
This represents increases of 25 per cent and 53 per cent respectively when compared to 2021.
Overnight visitors to south Warwickshire spent one per cent more in 2022 compared to 2019, while the number of day and overnight trips in 2022 were just seven per cent below 2019 levels, with total tourist spending for the same time period down by only one per cent.
More than 14,000 jobs in south Warwickshire were supported by tourism in 2022 – exceeding 2019 by one per cent – and is a 44 per cent increase on 2021.
The figures – which were released in November – form part of the latest tourism impact assessment for south Warwickshire, which is produced by The Research Solution, which uses data from various reputable sources such as VisitEngland and the Great Britain Tourism Survey.
Darren Tosh is the marketing and operations director at Shakespeare’s England, which is the official tourism board for south Warwickshire.
He said: “These latest figures confirm our belief that the region’s tourism industry is going from strength to strength – despite a difficult economic climate.
“It was particularly encouraging to see that both overnight spending and jobs exceeded pre-pandemic levels so quickly in 2022 after the last lockdown that was lifted the previous year.
“Although the figures do not capture this year where businesses and consumers have had to contend with rising inflation and interest rates, these numbers demonstrate that the tourism scene has bounced back strongly to create a stable foundation to grow further in the future.
“The King’s Coronation earlier this year provided a shot in the arm for many businesses – who were buoyed by an influx of domestic visits and overseas tourists from America and Europe – and we expect key events such as this to provide encouraging figures for 2023 too.”
Shakespeare’s England is anticipating a further rise in international visitors in 2024, with the organisation recently putting south Warwickshire on the world stage at two major Visit Britain events with tourism buyers from India and China.
Darren added: “Alongside domestic visitors, India and China are two of the most valuable markets for the British tourism industry. India spent a record £764million in the UK in 2022 to exceed pre-pandemic levels, so it was fantastic that south Warwickshire had a place at this illustrious networking table.”
