Guildford’s tourism sector sees significant growth despite national decline

Guildford has been hailed as a huge success for tourism after a recent report by Tourism South East was published.

The report shows that guildford has seen an overall increase in the tourism industry, in terms of both visitors and their spending, which is contradicting the national trend of falling visitor numbers.

Cllr Geoff Davis, lead councillor for economic development, said: “Tourism is vital to the local economy, for both income and employment, providing over 6,000 jobs in the area. We are delighted that recent events such as National Armed Forces Day , the Olympic Torch Relay, Tour of Britain, Olympic Cycle Road Race, and Prudential Ride London have increased tourist interest in Guildford.

“With a fantastic array of attractions, shopping, heritage and events, Guildford is a destination with an exciting tourism offering. We have seen a significant increase in visitors from China, and Chinese tour operators are interested in our borough due to our proximity to London.”

The study, commissioned by Guildford Borough Council, revealed that there were approximately 341,000 trips to Guildford in 2014 where visitors stayed overnight. 71% of these trips were domestic visitors, whereas 29% were from overseas - an increase of 1.7% in domestic and a 4.2% increase in overseas visitors.

Figures for the South East of England over the same time period showed a drop of 9%.

Furthermore, In 2014, there were over 4 million day trips to Guildford with visitor spending increased by 3.9% to a total of over £330m. Nationally tourism day trips fell by 2%.

Tourism supports 4,465 jobs in Guildford, and when once part time and seasonal jobs are included, the total number of jobs related to tourism is 6,099, or 8.1% of jobs in Guildford.