Tourist numbers to the county are on the rise
A million more people spent time visiting the county last year
THE number of visitors to the county rose last year.
A million more people spent time in the city and county in 2018 than in the previous year – taking the total to 35 million.
According to the latest figures, 11.53 million people visited the city, compared with 10.95 million in 2017 – while visitors to Leicestershire were up from 22.82 million in 2017 to 23.4 million in 2018.
After six years of continuous growth, tourism was worth more than £650 million to the city’s economy last year, with tourism benefitting the county to the tune of £1.2 billion.
The totals were welcomed by city mayor Sir Peter Soulsby and county council leader Nick Rushton.
“These new figures show Leicester is continuing to grow as a visitor destination, with record numbers of people choosing to spend time in our city,” Sir Peter said.
“They are very encouraging figures – and they’re being backed up by support from investors, with major hotel groups showing their confidence in Leicester by planning 850 new bedrooms in the city over the next five years.
“Our new Tourism Growth Plan and the city’s Tourism Action Plan, which we’ll be launching on October 31, will set out how we can build on this success.”
The figures also showed the number of tourism-related jobs is on the rise, with more than 23,000 people now employed in the sector – an increase of 2.9 per cent on 2017.
Leicester has had a 20 per cent rise in the number of jobs in the tourism sector since 2012, with nearly 8,000 people now working in the industry. In the county, more than 15,000 people are employed in the sector.
Councillor Rushton said: “I’m delighted the tourism industry is offering visitors what they want.
“We’re reaping the rewards of having top-class attractions, such as Bosworth Battlefield Heritage Centre, the National Forest and Twycross Zoo, while the county council’s investment in facilities such as Beacon Hill Country Park cafe shows we understand what we need to do to increase our appeal.
“We won’t rest on our laurels – and the Tourism Growth Plan is proof of that.
“Our teams are working hard to improve what we have to offer to keep people coming back, boost the economy by sustaining services and attract new faces.”