Gloucester Tall Ships – one of the events driving tourism
Latest provisional data from independent research organisation The South West Research Company Ltd shows the extraordinary success Gloucester has had in attracting tourists to the city since 2013 with the Cathedral city overtaking Cheltenham in 2015.
Some of the highlights of the report include:
- Total visitor spend in Gloucester in 2015 exceeded £200 million a massive 68% increase from 2013
- Over 4100 Jobs supported by tourism in Gloucester equivalent to 7% of total employment in the city with an additional 1,300 jobs created since 2013
- A massive jump in day visitors to 3.1 million a year in 2015 from 2 million in 2013
- 11% growth in hotel bookings over the period
- Gloucester showing fastest growth in tourism for the whole county
Paul James, Chair of Marketing Gloucester “We can be immensely proud of how the hard work and investment put into developing Gloucester as a tourist destination is showing returns. All areas are showing extraordinary results which beat both regional and national trends”
When asked if there were any indicators for the future, Jason Smith, Chief Executive of Marketing Gloucester responded “One thing the figures highlight is that with such high occupancy rates, it is a matter of urgency that we increase the number of Hotels within the city in order to not create barriers to growth”
Marketing Gloucester is an organisation that is owned by Gloucester City Council, with a board of Private sector directors, Chaired by leader of the city council, Councillor Paul James. Along with being the tourism and marketing body for the city is also responsible for inward investment and events
| Gloucestershire | |||
| 2015 | |||
| Cheltenham | Gloucester | Gloucestershire | |
| UK trips | 311,200 | 292,300 | 1,893,000 |
| Overseas trips | 45,100 | 42,800 | 258,000 |
| Total trips | 356,300 | 335,100 | 2,151,000 |
| Comparison v 13 % | -3 | 25 | 16 |
| UK nights | 688,000 | 626,000 | 4,504,000 |
| Overseas nights | 308,000 | 269,000 | 1,696,000 |
| total nights | 996,000 | 895,000 | 6,200,000 |
| Comparison v 13 % | -16 | 11 | 4 |
| UK spend | £51,246,000 | £44,287,000 | £314,225,000 |
| Overseas spend | £19,403,000 | £17,005,000 | £111,497,000 |
| Total spend | £70,649,000 | £61,292,000 | £425,722,000 |
| Comparison v 13 % | -8 | 5% | |
| Tourism day visits | 1,822,000 | 3,165,000 | 18,029,000 |
| Comparison v 13 % | -4 | 52 | -3 |
| Tourism day visit spend | £75,798,000 | £130,547,000 | £625,385,000 |
| Comparison v 13 % | 10 | 75 | 8 |
| Other visitor related spend | £7,713,000 | £8,459,000 | £43,420,000 |
| Comparison v 13 | |||
| Total visitor related spend | £154,160,000 | £200,298,000 | £1,094,527,000 |
| Comparison v 13 % | 6 | 68 | 16 |
| Total business turnover | £198,493,000 | £254,715,000 | £1,525,183,000 |
| Comparison v 13 | -1 | 55 | 28 |
| GVA | £112,290,000 | £144,919,000 | £859,316,000 |
| Total GVA | £11,632,000,000 | ||
| Tourism as % of total | 7% | ||
| Comparison v 13 % | -0.6 | 35.7 | |
| Staying tourist supported employment | |||
| Direct FTE employment | 915 | 802 | 5,443 |
| Indirect & induced FTE employment | 480 | 423 | 3,751 |
| Actual jobs | 1,854 | 1,618 | 12,062 |
| % of employment | 3% | 3% | 4% |
| Comparison v 13 % | -13 | 27 | 8 |
| Day visitor supported employment | |||
| Direct FTE employment | 735 | 1,233 | 6,168 |
| Indirect & induced FTE employment | 340 | 582 | 3,984 |
| Actual jobs | 1,477 | 2,491 | 13,654 |
| % of employment | 3% | 4% | 4% |
| Comparison v 13 % | 0 | 65 | -4 |
Jason I J Smith 