Economic Impact of Tourism (2017 results)
This report examines the volume and value of tourism in Swale. It includes the impact of visitor expenditure on the local economy in 2017 and provides comparative data against the previously published data for Kent (2015).
The research
Visit Kent commissioned Destination Research to use the Cambridge Economic Model, to prepare a report based on the latest data from national tourism surveys and regional data.
The report covers 2017 and explains for Swale that:
- The value of Swale’s visitor economy grew by 3.9% in 2017 and is now worth £237 million;
- The value of day trips to the Swale district increased by 3% in 2017, whilst the value of overnight trips increased by 1.5%;
- Visits to the district rose by 2.2% to 5.1 million trips, with 4.7 million day trips and nearly half a million overnight stays;
- The number of nights stayed increased by 12% for overseas visitors in 2017;
- The total number of jobs supported by tourism grew by 3.9% to 4,738, with the industry accounting for 10% of total employment in Swale.
The report also demonstrates that elsewhere in Kent there is a healthy picture with 65 million visitors to the country in 2017, and the value of the visitor economy grew by 7% to £3.8 billion.
