Birmingham's huge tourist economy is holding firm during difficult times, according to a report revealing that the number of people visit the city is remaining steady.

Last year Birmingham attracted almost quarter of a million more tourists who, between them, spent almost quarter of a billion pounds more, and helped create an additional 1,500 jobs.

The STEAM Report, compiled by research group Global Tourism Solutions, found that during 2008 Birmingham's visitor economy bucked the recession as more than 32.2 million leisure and business tourists came to the city, up 216,000 and a percentage point increase on the previous year's total. 

The STEAM research - used by most of the UK's major cities to assess the impact of visitors - revealed the amount of money that tourists spent in Birmingham during 2008 was £4.6 billion, up £241 million and a six per cent increase on 2007's total of £4.3 billion. 

Marketing Birmingham's chairman Paul Kehoe said: "These are strong figures. The STEAM report underlines just how important the visitor economy is to Birmingham. The sector holding up well and I believe it is well placed to grow significantly once the economic climate improves."

The STEAM figures found that not only did the city attract more visitors during 2008, they also stayed longer. The number of tourist days rose by 757,000, or two per cent, to almost 36.5 million. That hike was driven largely by more visitors staying overnight at serviced and non-serviced accommodation, which enjoyed double digit growths of 14 and 18 per cent respectively.

The research also revealed that more visitors and more spend led to more jobs in the city's visitor economy. The number of people in Birmingham employed in sectors supported by tourism, such as hotels, restaurants, transport and shopping, also rose during the year, by two per cent to 61,327. 

The biggest beneficiaries were the accommodation sector, which saw a five per cent increase in jobs, followed by three per cent rises in recreation and food & drink.

STEAM is a widely-accepted method of assessing the scale and benefits of tourism to cities, and is used by other UK centres such as Manchester, Nottingham and Leicester, which have yet to release their figures. It uses data from published and unpublished sources, local interviews and trade enquiries. 

Mike Whitby, Leader of Birmingham City Council, added: "This report shows just how forward thinking the city has been in embracing and encouraging the visitor industry. Tourism is a key part of our complex and diverse economy. It underlines the fact that Birmingham is now such an attractive and dynamic city that it draws visitors in by the tens of millions each year.

"The city's tourism economy has come far in just three years, when we had barely passed the 30 million mark in the number of visitors coming here."