Tourism delivering economic benefits in East Cambs

Tourism is having a huge impact on the economic fortunes of East Cambridgeshire as millions of visitors and pounds pour into the area.

New research shows in 2013, there were 3.4 million trips to the district worth £182 million to the local economy, with the tourism industry directly employing 3,335 people.

The ‘Economic Impact of Tourism’ report from TSE Research, highlights how the total number of trips, day visitors, day visitor spend and total tourism monetary value has increased dramatically since the last report in 2010.

For example, there were 2.6 million trips worth £164 million pounds to the local economy in 2010. A further comparison is in day visitor spend, this stood at just over £92 million in 2010 but in 2013 it was £120 million.

Cllr Hamish Ross, Service Delivery Champion: Markets & Town Centres at East Cambridgeshire District Council, said: “There are a number of sectors of our economy which are growing but this report shows just how important tourism is to East Cambridgeshire’s economic growth. The numbers are very impressive – the industry is worth £182 million to our economy, it employs thousands of people and there were 3.4 million trips to the district in 2013. It shows how vital tourism is for East Cambridgeshire.

“The District Council has worked very hard to promote East Cambridgeshire as a place to visit through the outstanding team at the Tourist Information Centre in Oliver Cromwell House to the partnership work with venues across the area. We are lucky to have so many outstanding places to visit from Ely Cathedral to Wicken Fen and Anglesey Abbey but we have many others which have charmed and entranced many people. The challenge is for us to build on this success to ensure the tourism industry continues to bring huge benefits to us all.”

To contact the Tourist Information Centre call 01353 662062, visit www.visitely.org.uk or follow @visitely on Twitter.