City shops are top draw for Winchester tourists
Data analysis for the city of Winchester has shown that retailers are now the most lucrative sector in terms of direct revenue from tourism.
A survey released by Tourism South East* has broken down the direct effects of tourism on various sectors and the latest statistics show that the most significant growth has been in the retail sector, earning £105m from visitors in 2015, with the catering sector coming in in second place at £83m.
Officers at the City Council are using the data to measure the performance of the destination management partnership – Visit Winchester and the Heart of Hampshire.
Since the partnership with the South Downs National Park, Tourism South East and East Hampshire businesses was established in 2011 it is the shops in the city centre which appear to have been the major beneficiaries of the increased footfall – the rise in direct spent in this sector has risen from £61m to £105m.
The survey also reported on the performance of the catering sector, accommodation providers, visitor attractions and transport providers.
Cllr Steve Miller, Winchester City Council’s Portfolio Holder for Economy and Estates, said:
This data is significant as it directly links tourism spend to the city centre businesses. For years there has been a debate about whether tourists actually spend money in the shops locally and the survey backs up what the hotels and the tourist information centre are saying – people come to Winchester to shop, eat and see visitor attractions and the retail offer is absolutely key to staying visitors and day-trippers alike.
It’s been a long-standing goal for the Visit Winchester team to increase the duration of overnight stays as staying visitors spend more. The team works hard to make it clearer to visitors what there is to see and do - each year one or two more itineraries are developed, apps help them reach new audiences and our online presence is constantly being updated and improved with a new website due in 2017. Next year we will roll out tailored support for a growing market via our new Chinese website, and Visit Britain is really helping put Winchester on the map by making the 200th anniversary of Jane Austen’s death their most high profile campaign of 2017.
Another fact that this data underlines is that more people are staying overnight and for longer and that there has been a significant hike in the number of overseas visitors – a high-spending visitor market.
Ellen Simpson, Head of Tourism at Winchester City Council, commented:
Bravo to the retailers who make the shopping offer locally something that is obviously pulling people in from far and wide and providing a valuable contribution to the city economy. In response to feedback from retailers and having spoken to colleagues at Winchester BID, we’ll be looking to do more that supports their efforts during shoulder seasons. We have been working hard on the food and drink story and will continue to do so to encourage a similar growth pattern for local restaurateurs and café owners. The results are giving us food for thought as to how we can work smarter with retailers - our networks of visitor attractions and accommodation providers are very successful and this is giving us food for thought as to how we can make more of the obviously significant benefits of our activity to shops and restaurants.