Cheshire cheered by record visitor figures
TOURISM figures in Cheshire have hit a record high with visitor numbers reaching more than 45m, an increase of 10m people on 2009 and a 6.4% on 2013.
The numbers were announced by Marketing Cheshire at its Annual Visitor Economy Conference at Crewe Lyceum to an audience of the county’s key tourism partners.
With 31m visiting Cheshire West and Chester and just under 15m visiting Cheshire East, more visitors are heading to the county to enjoy the unique experiences on offer than ever before.
Visitor spend is also up with tourism expenditure across Cheshire increasing by 9.5% to £2.5bn in 2014, with £1.6bn spent in Cheshire West and Chester and £806m in Cheshire East. Tourism spend in Cheshire has grown significantly from £1.6bn in 2009 to £2.5bn in 2014, a 51% increase.
An increase in hotel rooms in the area, shorter travel time from London to Chester by train as well as a free Cathedral with its brand new attraction “Cathedral at Height”, the enhanced City Walls experience, and continuous improvement at Cheshire Oaks are among the many reasons Chester is seeing an increase in visitor numbers and spend, says Marketing Cheshire.
For Cheshire East Tatton Park’s Visit England’s “Large Visitor Attraction of the Year” award for 2014 and Dunham Massey’s transformation into a World War One military hospital has had a significant impact on numbers along with a higher attendance at artisan markets such as Macclesfield’s Treacle Market , a calendar of stand-out events and key investment in nearby hotels.
Simon Warburton, director of operations at Chester Cathedral, said: “Chester Cathedral is delighted to have played a role in maintaining Chester’s position as a must see visitor destination. Since going ‘free to enter’, we have increased our visitor numbers from 60,000 (2012) to 230,000 (2014), we’ve developed a multi-award winning visitor attraction in the Cathedral at Height tour and we’ve held a broad range of exhibitions from copper sculptures to the Narnia experience. We also know that 20% of our visitors are from overseas and 47% are overnight visitor staying at least 2 nights. 2015 is looking like another exciting year with Alice in Wonderland and Chester Cathedral Falconry and Nature Gardens launching this summer and some pretty exciting plans for Christmas.”
In 2014, accommodation spend in Cheshire East showed the greatest jump, with 15.8% more being spent by tourists in the area. Hotel occupancy across Cheshire has continued to increase into this year with 73.4% in April 2015, an increase on the same month last year. Average Daily Rate (ADR) and Revenue per Available Room have also shown prominent increases on last year, which encourages optimism for accommodation spend and overnight visits to Cheshire for 2015.
With several projects set to open this year including the £40m Islands project at Chester Zoo, the development of the inspiring RENEW Chester Cultural Centre as well as the proposed new visitor centre at Jodrell Bank, figures are expected to continue to increase at a similar rate in the next few years.
Katrina Michel, chief executive of Marketing Cheshire, said: “We don’t stand still in Cheshire and these record figures are testament to the hard work and commitment shown by our hotels, restaurants and attractions. Cheshire’s star continues to rise whether it’s through prime time television coverage with shows such as Homefires, Ordinary Lies and Our Zoo or stand-out experiences such as Bolesworth International, Cholmondeley Pageant of Power and this summer’s Rise Above Sportive with Mark Cavendish with visitors flocking here to stay longer and spend more money. And 2016 is looking even more exciting with the final activities in the Northern Tourism Growth Fund, the Year of the Garden, the second International Festival of Business in Liverpool and the delivery of a fabulous new cultural centre that will all have a major impact on the night time economy in Chester.”
