The West of England’s vital tourism industry has fully recovered from the dire impact of the pandemic, figures out today show, with it contributing a record £2.46bn to the regional economy.
According to the research carried out by Visit West, the destination marketing organisation behind the Visit Bath brand, the sector supports 46,000 jobs – around 1,000 more than in 2019. In that year the industry brought around £2.33bn to the region.
With one-in-10 jobs in the West of England in tourism and hospitality, the health of the sector is vital for the region’s economy.
As the Visit West report covers the volume and value of the visitor economy in 2023, the contribution to the regional economy is now likely to be even higher following a strong year.
Inbound international visits recovered strongly from the ban on travel during the Covid-19 pandemic, growing by 21% last year to 957,000 – just 14 percentage points behind the record high of 2019.
Bristol was the England’s seventh-most visited destination by inbound visitors, according to the research, with Bath 11th (joint with Cardiff).
Combined staying visits to the region increased in total by 2%, with an encouraging increase in spending by these visitors of 7%.
Visit West said while the number of international day visitors was currently not tracked, it was known to have a significant impact on the sector.
The number of UK-based day visitors to the region rose by 5% on 2022’s figures, with their spending up by 22% – a 10th more than the total in 2019 when the number of day visitors was 15% higher.
However, the research shows spending by UK tourists staying in the region fell by 3% to 2.86m.
Visit West’s overarching strategy is to encourage people to stay longer in the region, maximising their stay exploring what it has to offer – with their spending supporting high streets and small businesses in particular.
The research also outlines the biggest beneficiaries of visitor spend. Topping the table was the retail sector, which an estimated £409m, then food and drink (£342m) and accommodation (£200m).
Visit West said for many businesses, this visitor spend was a vital part of their income.
Visit West managing director Kathryn Davis, pictured, said: “We are delighted that the industry continues to strengthen post-Covid, and while we are nearly into 2025, we can see from our own data that 2024 in general looks to have built on the 2023 recovery.”
She said operating conditions for businesses remained “incredibly challenging” and Visit West would continue to lobby for those working in the visitor economy.
“We will continue to develop strong routes to market through our work with the travel trade, meeting and event organisers and through our consumer channels Visit Bath and Visit Bristol,” she added.
Last year the West of England was chosen as one of 12 hotspots for a new national approach to increasing visitor numbers and creating jobs.
As a result, Visit West was able to access more support and training opportunities to find ways to attract new visitors to the region and bring in new investment to help supercharge the industry.
Bath was hit harder than many other cities by the pandemic as international travel dried up and domestic tourism was geared towards outside attractions.
The Roman Baths suffered a near 73% fall in visitor numbers in 2020 to just over 350,000 compared to 1.3m the previous year due to lockdowns.
That sent it tumbling to 51st place in a table of most-visited UK attractions as gardens, parks, forests and zoos reaped the benefits when predominantly indoor sites were forced to close for long periods or reduce their opening hours.
However, Bath has bounced back strongly since then, with the Roman Baths in particular enjoying a strong recovery.
Tripadvisor reviewers named it the world’s eighth best attraction and number one in the UK in 2022, with readers of consumer magazine Which? voting it the UK’s third best historic attraction.
The region’s tourism economy is expected to benefit from a strong 2025, with demand from events linked to the Jane Austen 250 festival in Bath, the Women’s Rugby World Cup and VisitBritain’s national campaign Starring Great Britain, which celebrates film and TV locations.
Bath has benefited hugely in recent years from its starring role in films and TV shows.
In 2021 iconic international magazine TIME named Bath among the 100 greatest places in the world, noting that Bridgerton fans had been “pouring into the city to immerse themselves in the drama and scandal of the Regency-era romance with new guided tours”.
And earlier this year Visit West, the region’s destination marketing organisation, said its research showed 30% of visitors were attracted by films or shows shot locally, with Bath joining a select roll call of places that has become known for ‘set-jetting’ – or screen tourism.
