‘Exciting plans’ to boost West Norfolk tourism - with visitor numbers on the rise
There are “exciting plans” to enhance West Norfolk’s tourism industry after a report revealed that visitor numbers were on the rise last year.
Analysis commissioned by Visit West Norfolk has revealed that in 2023, there were a total of 10,494,000 trips to the borough.
Around 509,000 of these saw people stay for at least one night, which was a 9% increase on 2022 numbers - while the 9,985,000 day trips were up 3% compared to the previous year.
In 2023, tourism was worth a total of £565,165,867 to West Norfolk - again a 1% rise from 2022. However, this was still 2% lower than pre-pandemic levels in 2019.
Borough councillor Simon Ring, the deputy leader of West Norfolk Council and its cabinet member for tourism, is encouraged by the figures.
He said: “It is great to see such strong figures for day trips, day spend and spend during overnight trips in 2023 - especially compared to pre-pandemic levels - though the number of overnight trips could be improved upon for our area when compared to the same period in recent years.
“The issue of needing longer stays in our area is reflected in a similar report for the same period of tourism trade for Norfolk as a whole, and we believe this same issue is reflected in many other areas of England for last year’s tourism trade.”
The average visitor spent 3.86 nights in the borough last year, spending an average of £249.05 during their stay.
The number of nights was down from 2022, but the amount spent was up - suggesting that people are paying higher prices despite staying for shorter periods.
In all, visitors spent £423,621,867 in 2023 - helping to pay for the 8,147 tourism-related jobs we have, which the report says accounts for 15.6% of all West Norfolk employment.
Cllr Ring believes the two areas which could boost our tourism industry further are increasing the length of people’s stays and encouraging them to visit more often.
He says the numbers reflect how important this is to our area.
Last year, there were 3,164,000 urban visits, 2,390,000 countryside visits, and 4,431,000 coastal visits.
“From a superb summertime family experience in the classic resort of Hunstanton to refreshing rambles along our coastal trails in the autumn, and finding cosy rural pubs and superb food in our hotels and restaurants during winter retreats to springtime exploration of our museums and superb history and heritage, West Norfolk has something different to offer to visitors for every season of the year,” Cllr Ring said.
“When reflecting upon the latest stats in this economic report, our message is clear: our varied West Norfolk landscape offers a great deal of different experiences for visitors, but the changing seasons can offer even more variety of high quality visitor experiences for repeat visits and longer stays.
“However, complacency is not part of our make-up. We have exciting plans to enhance the visitor experience in Hunstanton and, with planning now approved, the St George’s Guildhall complex renovation will provide a world class heritage experience that will undoubtedly attract new people to West Norfolk who haven’t currently got us on their radars.
“Let’s also not forget Downham Market which is working hard to identify itself as a food experience market town.”
In 2023, the average tourist spent 9% of their funds on accommodation, 21% on shopping, 40% on food and drink, 11% on entertainment and 19% on travel.
Just under 67% of people stayed in paid accommodation, with 29% using either friends’ or relatives’ properties or second homes.
A combined £8,097,000 was spent associated with the latter.
Earlier this year, the Independent-led borough council announced plans to double the council tax paid by second home owners in a bid to raise around £6.5million in funds.
Cllr Ring insists this is not a “crackdown”.
“The law does not allow us to stop people buying houses in West Norfolk to use as second homes. Even if it did, I suggest that we wouldn’t,” he said.
“What the second homes council tax increase does, is create extra revenue that we are able to use to combat the negative effects of the rise of second homes along our coastal areas, in particular.
“For example it allows us to create affordable houses in areas as close as economically possible to the areas where young people have been displaced from, such as the six apartments allocated in the Southend Road site in Hunstanton, or the 21-24 planned for the bus station area, also at Hunstanton.
“Evidence is showing that, although many second homeowners are selling up, it’s more likely that they are doing so to avoid the expected hike in capital gains tax in the upcoming autumn budget and not the doubling of council tax.
“Evidence is also showing that those homes are being bought by people as second homes. This will bring further additional revenue into local government as many of the properties being sold are still rated based on their pre-renovated valuations and are currently paying a low level of council tax.
“We do appreciate the significant financial impact that the second home owners have on our economy, and indeed we recognise the ‘new’ communities that are being created in the areas most affected.
“However, we have to also recognise the negative impacts and find the revenue to minimise these effects.”
The tourism report was completed by Ipswich-based Destination Research, which used the likes of online surveys and international passenger information to collect its data.
