/Boom time for historic properties
LOTTIE GIBBONS stayed at Suites Hotel and Spa, Knowsley as a guest of the owners.
SHE and her partner enjoyed a ‘Just the two of us’ package priced at £320 per couple.
YOU can book a spa break by calling Suite Hotel & Spa on 0151 549 2222 or through the website suiteshotelgroup.com HISTORIC properties are booming in popularity with tourists. VisitEngland’s Annual Attractions Survey has found that they had a huge growth in numbers last year.
Of the 1,400 English attractions surveyed, the research found that historic properties such as mills, monuments, boats and burial grounds saw the largest increase in visitor numbers, up eight per cent on the previous year.
Visits to farm attractions also experienced a five per cent growth, while historic houses and palaces along with visitor and heritage centres and places of worship all saw increases of four per cent.
The British Museum was the most visited ‘free’ attraction in England in 2017 for the tenth consecutive year with nearly six million visitors, and the Tate Modern came a close second with more than five and a half million.
The Tower of London topped the list as the most visited ‘paid for’ attraction for the ninth year running with 2.8 million visitors and Chester Zoo came in second place with 1.9 million.
Thanks largely to Hull’s role as UK city of culture in 2017, Yorkshire outperformed the rest of the regions of England with the greatest rise in numbers to the county’s attractions.
Minister for Arts, Heritage and Tourism Michael Ellis said: “Our world-class attractions have once more proven to be a huge draw for both UK and overseas visitors.
“Whether it be our unique historic places like Stonehenge, museums like Oxford’s Ashmolean Museum, or cultural hubs like NewcastleGateshead home to the Great Exhibition of the North this summer - we have attractions that are the envy of the world.
“As we look ahead to the UK’s exit from the European Union, we remain absolutely committed to supporting our tourism sector and boosting local economies up and down the country.”
VisitEngland chief executive Sally Balcombe added: “Visitor attractions are an important part of our tourism landscape, driving visitors to discover more of England. It is great to see people are getting out and exploring the huge variety of attractions and places of interest on offer across the country, boosting tourism and distributing the benefits across local economies.”
Tourism is worth £106bn annually to England.