KentOnline

bannermobile

News

Sport

Business

What's On

Advertise

Contact

Other KM sites

CORONAVIRUS WATCH KMTV LIVE SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTERS LISTEN TO OUR PODCASTS LISTEN TO KMFM
SUBSCRIBE AND SAVE
News

Visitor attractions in Kent welcome 9.3% more people in August compared with same month last year

By: Chris Price

Published: 09:13, 18 October 2013

Updated: 10:31, 18 October 2013

Sunny summer days gave Kent’s tourism industry a welcome boost, with visitor numbers growing by nearly 10%.

Attractions welcomed 711,579 people in August compared with 650,784 in the same month last year, an increase of 9.3%.

It is the fifth consecutive month the number of visitors has grown year on year.

The Historic Dockyard Chatham welcomed 13% more visitors during August than for the same month last year

By the end of August, footfall in the year so far was up 4.6% compared with the same point in 2012, according to figures released by Visit Kent.

There was also growth in the number of people staying in self-catered accomodation, up 5.1%, and people staying in hotels, guest houses and B&Bs, up 14.6%.

mpu1

Business tourism also recorded growth, up 13.6%.

The good weather and not having the Olympics have been listed as contriubuting factors to the positive figures.

However it was the attractions charging for entry which saw a boost in numbers, up 11.3%. Free attractions saw visitor numbers drop by 6.8%

Chatham's Historic Dockyard welcomed 13% more visitors during August than for the same month last year.

Communications manager Gail James said: “It has been a fantastic summer season and much better than anticipated.

“We had superb weather and a great temporary exhibition – Exploring Antartica.”

mpu2

Self-catering cottage company Mulberry Cottages, based in Canterbury, saw a 40% increase in bookings during the summer.

It recorded 100% occupancy over the August Bank Holiday weekend.

Visit Kent chief executive Sandra Matthews-Marsh said: “It has been a tremendous summer.

“Our official figures to the end of June revealed a really good start to the season and more than 60% of our attractions were confident they would perform better than last year during the next three months.

“Their confidence seems to have been very well placed.”

More by this author

sticky

© KM Group - 2024