Record figures for tourism in county

Foxes and Richard III boost

THE FOXES’ unlikely but fabulous Premier League win and the enduring legacy of Richard III’s reinterment have helped push tourism in the county to record highs.

Latest figures show an increase in the value of tourism to Leicester and Leicestershire of 6.6% to £1.675 billion in 2015.

Since 2012 more than 1,800 jobs have been created with some 21,441 roles being supported by visitor spending last year.

The statistics have been released by Leicester Shire Promotions, the tourism organisation for the county.

The research also shows the economic impact of tourism in Leicester in 2015 was £576 million, up from £541 million in the previous year, the economic impact value in Leicestershire was £1.099 billion compared to £1.030 billion in 2014 and 32.81 mil- lion tourists visited Leicester and Leicestershire in 2015, an increase from 30.41 million in 2014.

In Hinckley and Bosworth a blueprint for further developing the borough as a destination has been drawn up by the Hinckley and Bosworth Tourism Partnership.

Its strategy document reveals employment locally within the tourism industry provides 2,200 jobs (full time equivalents) employed in around 600 businesses.

In excess of 3.7 million visitors come to the borough every year, with more than 91% visiting for the day, amounting to an estimated 4.1 million visits.

Tourism contributes more than £155.75 million per year to the local economy.

Leicestershire County Council leader Nick Rushton said: “Tourism is a major part of Leicestershire’s economy and I’m delighted that more people are visiting and staying in our great county. Our historic attractions and our attractive market towns and countryside mean we are well placed to grow tourism in the future.”

Martin Peters, chief executive of Leicester Shire Promotions, said: “Leicester and Leicestershire have been increasingly in the national and international spotlight over the last couple of years since the discovery and subsequent reinterment of King Richard III and last season’s remarkable Premier League triumph by Leicester City.

“These latest figures show that the growth curve has remained consistently positive over previous years and we are confident that this period of sustained growth for the industry will continue.”

The Leicester and Leicestershire research was conducted by Scarborough Tourism Economic Activity Monitor.

It is the 12th major consecutive study into the economic impact of tourism at a destination level and is based on 2015 data.