Visit Isle of Wight (IW Tourism) has released the results of the tourism statistics for the all-important summer season.
These figures, regarded in the industry as one of the most robust visitor surveys in the UK and carried out for Visit Isle of Wight by an independent company, show the latest figures available for Quarter 3 (July, August and September 2024).
Results show the average overnight visitor spend for Quarter 3, when compared to the same period in 2023, was down by 11%, reflecting a national trend highlighted by VisitEngland that one of the main barriers to people taking a domestic holidays is the rising cost of living.
However, the Isle of Wight did see an increase in the overall number of visitors across the summer period, although this increase was just 1%.
Comparing the 2024 year to date (1st Jan – 30th September) to the same period in 2023, it shows that tourism on the Isle of Wight is down by just 2.1% overall.
Visit Isle of Wight Managing Director, Will Myles is keen to point out that the latest figures might not reflect the same summer experience of every business with some businesses having had record years, whilst some are struggling, especially as the “leisure staying visitor” shows the biggest drop year on year.
The day visits market has seen the sharpest rise even though the Great British weather has thrown everything it can to encourage people to stay at home with rainfall during the period increasing year on year by almost 25%.
VisitBritain’s monthly sentiment tracker research states that the top 3 barriers to people taking a UK domestic overnight stay are Cost of Living, UK weather and personal finances with 48% of people thinking that the worst is still to come.