Fall in tourist numbers concern

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Tue 14th Jul 2009

Weston-super-Mare campaigner Mike Bell has called on the Government to revise its approach to the tourist industry after figures revealed a sharp drop in tourist visits to the South West region in the past year.

New figures show that in January to March 2008 there were over 3.5 million visitors but this fell to 2.75 million for the same period this year.

This fall, if sustained, is likely to cause considerable damage to several local economies in the South West, including Weston-super-Mare and North Somerset.

Mr Bell, the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate for Weston-super-Mare, is advocating greater investment in Visit Britain, which brings over £30 into tourist economies for every £1 spent, as well as a coordinated efforts to promote tourism by integrating domestic transport networks and by providing better information across public services.

Mike said: "Although the reports of visitor numbers here in Weston have been positive, the fall in visitor numbers across the region is a concern. Of course a drop is to be expected with the deepening recession but it is sharper than was anticipated. In the past few years we have seen severe cuts to the marketing budgets for the tourist industry and the responsibility for this spread around councils, regional quangos and Visit Britain.

"At a national level there is no co-ordination and dwindling support, which in the long run may prove to be devastating to our resort economies."