Record-breaking bank holiday for Devon
Visit Devon celebrating bumper bank holiday weekend and on track to see £35million spent in the county - thanks to the great weather, great hospitality and some smart use of tourism budgets.
Carolyn Custerson, Chair of Visit Devon, comments: “Tourism is one of the leading industries in Devon - and we have proved this year that we can really deliver economically for the region. Business for day trips, UK and overseas visits have all performed particularly strongly with key hotels and destinations saying August bookings are up by up to 20% on August last year.”
The growing trend for the ‘Staycation’ has been successfully marketed through Visit Devon’s online Active Devon Campaign, encouraging people to holiday at home and experience all that Devon has to offer, all year round.
This has been backed up by a new ‘What have you been up to this summer’ app which has been promoted through the Visit Devon Facebook page and which allows videos to be shared on the Visit Devon Website. It is designed to increase the number of visitors to the region by showcasing the county.
Laura Holt, Deputy Chair of Visit Devon, comments: “It’s a tribute to the strength and quality of the Devon offer, and the fantastic talent of our tourism industry, that we are seeing so much success. When Visit Devon’s core budgets were cut, the area tourism partners from across the county (Discover Dartmoor; North Devon +; The Heart of Devon; The English Riviera Tourism Company Ltd; Visit Plymouth and Visit South Devon) came together to keep the Visit Devon brand alive. Working together to promote the county as a whole is a strategy that is clearly delivering.”
ADVERTISEMENT
Carolyn Custerson continues “It is fantastic that Devon has had such a strong summer season this year. The weather has helped enormously but we must now drive home the message that this is a county to visit across the year. Tourism jobs are more critical to Devon than many other counties and we believe it’s time for much more investment to enable us to optimise the legacy of this Summer and to secure our advantage still further.”