Record high for Cheshire East tourism

Above: Quarry Bank Mill

Tourism spending has hit a new record in Cheshire East thanks to higher visitor numbers across the borough – which topped 15 million last year!

Income generated by the visitor economy increased from £807m in 2014 to £842m in 2015, a rise of 4.4 per cent and a whopping 54.8 per cent up on 2009, when Cheshire East was formed.

The Steam (Scarborough Tourism Economic Activity Monitor) figures also showed a 2.3 per cent increase in employment in the visitor economy sector too.

Councillor David Brown, Deputy Leader of Cheshire East Council, said:

“Tourism in Cheshire East continues to just grow and grow and exceed industry expectations.

“With Tatton Park, new visitor facilities at Jodrell Bank, our gateway to the Peak District, excellent historic market towns, superb hotels and guest houses, exciting and popular events such as the recent Tour of Britain and the prospect of a game-changing HS2 hub station at Crewe, we anticipate the number of people visiting Cheshire East will continue to soar.

“The success of our visitor economy is great for the borough as a whole, bringing jobs, investment and a real boost for our local businesses.

“The Council is continuing to do all it can to support this successful industry, to help attract visitors and show Cheshire East is a fantastic destination to visit for leisure, tourism and business.”

The total number of visitors increased 4.2 per cent to 15.23 million last year. The number of visitor days spent in the borough rose by four per cent to a total of 16.87 million – an increase of 28.3 per cent since 2009.

The number of people employed in tourism in the borough grew by 2.3 per cent in 2015 to 11,100, which means that the industry has boosted its workforce by 28.9 per cent since 2009.

Feeding the reindeer at Tatton Park Home Farm