Home hotspot for summer hols

0 Comments | Citizen Gloucestershire, The, Jul 22, 2010 | by Sarah Webb

HOLIDAYMAKERS across Gloucestershire are being told the answer to vacation boredom lies right on their doorstep.

With many schools breaking up for summer today, the county is expecting millions of visitors and summer sunshine.

Tourism is worth around Pounds 1bn a year in the county, and experts estimate there will be about 4.6m day or holidaying visits before schools go back in September.

Chris Dee, senior tourism manager at Gloucestershire First, said: “Tourism is one of Gloucestershire’s success stories in difficult times. Many of our campaigns are paid for by hard working tourism businesses.

“We celebrate our culture, food and drink, gardens and attractions, city breaks and retail everything that Gloucestershire does well. Creative new ideas such as the ‘Summer in Gloucester’ campaign have added to the appeal and visitors are recognising that a day visit to our area is just not enough.”

VisitEngland reported an 18 per cent increase in ‘holidays at home’ in 2009 and Gloucestershire First has been working to capitalise on the trend.

In May this year 48 per cent of businesses in a regional survey reported an increase in visitor numbers in that period of 2010 compared with 2009 which was the best performing county in the South West.

Gloucestershire also does especially well from higher spending overseas visitors, with markets such as Germany, Japan and France reported as doing well this year.

The Met Office also expects some summer sun is also in the county for families to enjoy.

Forecaster John Hammond said: “The weekend looks dry and temperatures should be around 22C so it will feel quite pleasantly warm.

“Beyond that over all Gloucestershire, being in the south, looks very much drier with some sunny spells into next week and for the rest of the month.”

AA spokesman Luke Bosdet said: “The busiest times to travel during the holiday period is at the end of the week and at the end of the weekend, because people tend to head off to their holiday destination on a Friday evening or Saturday morning and come back on a Sunday.”