Lancashire growing as tourist destination

Official visitor figures from Marketing Lancashire for 2014 confirm six years of continued growth in the visitor economy.

The number of nights spent by visitors in the county grew by 2.3 per cent with an average stay of 3.1 nights.

This increase in visitor nights has also helped towards an overall increase of 3.8 per cent in total visitor spend of £136m to £3.68bn.

Visitor numbers to Lancaster increased by 11 per cent to 7.1m, generating £415m economic impact.

Over 8.1m visitors stayed in Lancashire as part of a holiday or short break, generating 24.7m (+2.3 per cent) nights spent in accommodation across the county.

Lancashire’s visitor economy to supports around one in 10 jobs, employing more than 56,000 people.

Ruth Connor, chief executive of Marketing Lancashire, said: “It is encouraging to see growth continue across Lancashire particularly in visitors staying longer and spending more money in the county.

“A day is simply not long enough to enjoy all that Lancashire has to offer and if day visitors, who still represent 87 per cent of all visitors, have a great time then the best news is that they want to come back to stay even longer.

“This growth is testament to the investment, commitment and hard work of Lancashire businesses.”