In My View Why tourism in Chichester can thrive in the post-covid world

To say that 2020 has been difficult for tourism, is an understatement. UK wide, in 2019 domestic tourism was worth £113billion, and in 2020, this has dropped to £74billion. With businesses now facing, effectively, three winter seasons back to back, many have been tasked with making impossible decisions about the future.

There’s no magic solution, and I appreciate that the outlook will continue to be difficult until restrictions can be fully lifted to once again allow businesses to operate in a way which doesn’t limit numbers.

I am, however, confident that Chichester is well placed to thrive going forward.

In our district alone, we boast most of the features a visitor could expect to find in England; a worldclass cultural offering, historical landmarks and experiences, the stunning countryside, coastline and harbour, a wide variety of outdoor and sporting opportunities, enormous amounts of walking and cycling trails, and of course our diverse range of award-winning food and drink which is produced in Sussex; our vineyards, breweries, farm produce and fresh local seafood.

I must also mention the fantastic calendar of events which are a huge draw for visitors from across the world and will be back again when we are ready – the Festival of Chichester, Goodwood’s Festival of Speed,

Revival and of course horse racing, polo at Cowdray, the Cathedral’s Festival of Flowers, and the fantastic productions of the Chichester

Festival Theatre, to name just a few.

With this array of events and attractions we are fortunate enough to have, and with a collaborative effort, we can encourage visitors to the area, entice them to stay longer, and more importantly, spend a little more.

While we’re at the mercy of the great British weather, there is also a need to look at ways in which we can encourage off-season visits.

We are, however, lucky to have such a wonderful climate and have officially more consistent hours of sunshine than anywhere else in the UK.

Here at Visit Chichester we are currently working on plans to offer a considerable boost to tourism to show visitors exactly what they can experience here.

We have some exciting news to announce in the coming weeks, and hope we can count on your support to really put our Chichester district on the destination map for tourists both in UK for now and far wider afield, internationally, as soon as we can.