According to the latest figures tourism spending has hit a new record in Cheshire East thanks to higher visitor numbers across the borough – which topped 15 million last year!
According to Steam (Scarborough Tourism Economic Activity Monitor) income generated by the visitor economy increased from £807m in 2014 to £842m in 2015 – representing a 4.4% increase and an increase of 54.8% since Cheshire East was formed in 2009.
Figures also showed a 2.3% increase in employment in the visitor economy sector.
Councillor David Brown, Deputy Leader of Cheshire East Council, said: "Tourism in Cheshire East continues to just grow and grow and exceed industry expectations.
"With Tatton Park, new visitor facilities at Jodrell Bank, our gateway to the Peak District, excellent historic market towns, superb hotels and guest houses, exciting and popular events such as the recent Tour of Britain and the prospect of a game-changing HS2 hub station at Crewe, we anticipate the number of people visiting Cheshire East will continue to soar.
"The success of our visitor economy is great for the borough as a whole, bringing jobs, investment and a real boost for our local businesses.
"The Council is continuing to do all it can to support this successful industry, to help attract visitors and show Cheshire East is a fantastic destination to visit for leisure, tourism and business."
Steam uses locally-derived data from a variety of sources including tourist information centres, visitor attractions and events, accommodation bedstocks and occupancy rates. Data is analysed to produce estimates of the number of visitors, visitor days, employment supported by tourism, and revenue generated.
According to Steam the total number of visitors increased 4.2% to 15.23 million last year and the number of visitor days spent in the borough rose by 4% to a total of 16.87 million – an increase of 28.3% since 2009.
Whilst the number of people employed in tourism in the borough grew by 2.3% in 2015 to 11,100, which means that the industry has boosted its workforce by 28.9% since 2009.
