Tourism continues to be big business across Derbyshire according
to the latest official figures - which reveal that tourists spent
more than £1.46 billion in the county in 2009.
Independent research carried out on behalf of East Midlands
Tourism, East Midlands Development Agency's (emda) tourism arm,
indicates that tourist spending rose from more than £1.42
billion in 2008, or around three per cent.
The study, conducted by Scarborough Tourism Economic Activity
Monitor (STEAM), also shows that tourism supported more than 25,000
jobs in Derbyshire - a rise of around 900, and almost half of all
new tourism jobs generated in the region - during the same
period.
And the total number of tourists visiting the county increased
from more than 35 million in 2008 to more than 36 million the
following year - giving the encouraging upward trend a further
boost.
"Given the current economic climate, it's great news that
tourism is responsible for some growth - both in terms of the
number of people who visit and how much they spend and the number
of jobs they support," said David Thornton, Head of Marketing and
Deputy Chief Executive of Visit Peak District & Derbyshire, the
area's official tourist board.
"These figures underline the importance of what Prime Minister
David Cameron said in his recent speech, indicating that tourism
will be one of the key drivers to kick start the UK out of
recession.
"They offer further proof of just how vital tourism is to the
local, regional and national economy, and show how important it is
to continue to invest in areas such as ours, where the largest
returns are achieved.
"Now the challenge for us, and for tourism businesses across the
area, is to work together and be greater than the sum of our parts
so we can successfully compete on an international scale to answer
the Government's call and generate new tourism business for
Britain.
"And, following the launch of our recent industry membership
scheme, we look forward to sharing our continuing success with as
many of our tourism businesses as possible, as well as making a
crucial contribution to the area's overall economic
prosperity."