Latest figures from regional tourism body Tourism South East (TSE) show visitors to Brighton & Hove are happy with their experience of the city. Of those surveyed, both day and overnight visitors rated the overall enjoyment of their visit to the city highly at 8.71 out of 10.
Nearly all visitors (8.9 out of 10) indicated that they were ‘likely’ to recommend Brighton & Hove as a visitor destination to others and 8.76 out of 10 visitors said they were likely to return for a day trip or short stay.
Unsurprisingly, the survey shows domestic visitors are more likely than overseas visitors to decide to visit Brighton & Hove closer to their visit, with 50% indicating their decision was made within a week of their visit. For 12% of day visitors from the region, a major factor in deciding to visit the city was good weather which could explain in part why visitor numbers in the rain soaked summer of 2015 declined.
The highest number of overseas visitors surveyed came from Spain, followed by Germany, America, France and Australia.
The most popular activity for visitors was going to the beach and seafront (82%), followed by eating out (77%), exploring independently (64%), visiting a tourist attraction (55%) and shopping (54%). The most popular main attraction visited was Brighton Pier followed by the British Airways i360 and the Royal Pavilion.
The survey shows that overnight visitors provide a significantly higher boost to the local economy than day visitors. Including spend on eating out, shopping, entertainment, travel and commercial accommodation, the average total spend for staying visitors, was estimated to be £169.21 per person per 24 hour period compared with £130.98 in 2014. Spend for day visitors in 2016 was £90.03 up from £36.89 in 2014. Those visiting the city for a conference were among the highest spenders with an average of £254.57 spent within a 24 hour period.
Commenting on the findings of the report chair of the council’s Economic Development and Culture Committee Alan Robins said: ”We know Brighton & Hove has a lot to offer so it’s reassuring to see that the majority of visitors are happy with their experience of the city. There’s a tremendous amount of work goes in to making our city attractive for visitors and this includes not only the many businesses and workers in the tourism sector, but those who maintain our beautiful parks and open spaces, people who work hard to keep the beach and seafront clean and safe and our diverse community of residents who make it the vibrant and welcoming city it is.”
David Marks, Chairman of British Airways i360, said: “We are delighted to see British Airways i360 playing its part in attracting visitors to Brighton and Hove. As a new attraction it’s very encouraging to be recognised alongside the many other high-calibre landmarks in the city.”
Notes for editors
The TSE visitor survey is commissioned by VisitBrighton every two years and conducted over summer with 1000 people being interviewed on-street.
The full survey is here