Value of tourism (Bournemouth) 2014 – South West Research Company: • 6.88m visitors to Bournemouth per year • 1,013,000 Staying visitor trips • 3,893,000 Staying visitor nights • £277,501,000 Staying visitor spend • 5,752,000 Day visits • £207,781,000 Day visitor spend • £485,282,000 Direct visitor spend • £13,705,000 Other related spend • £498,987,000 TOTAL VISITOR RELATED SPEND • 12,056 Estimated actual employment • 8,845 FTE employment • 13% Proportion of all employment20/02/2017 • 13,868 Bed spaces (hotels, guest accommodation & B&B) • 329 Self-catering units Fun facts: • Bournemouth experiences 7.7 hours of summer sunshine a day • Ice-creams sold on a busy weekend - approx 30,000 • Every year an average 750,000 ice creams are bought on the seven miles of Bournemouth seafront • Deckchairs hired out on a busy weekend - 3,000 • In the summer the beaches are raked by the tractors every morning and manually litter picked twice a day • Bournemouth Pier has the world’s first and only pier-to-shore zipline • Bournemouth Mayor Merton Russell-Cotes is said to have received his knighthood for his discretion when King Edward VII regularly visited the Russell-Cotes with his famous mistress, Lily Langtry • Bournemouth was the first place in the UK to have purpose-built beach huts, built in 1909 and marked with a blue plaque near to the east of Bournemouth Pier • Bournemouth’s renowned beach has four Blue Flags and two Seaside Awards • Fisherman’s Walk Cliff Lift in Southbourne made it into the 2015 Guinness World Records as the world’s shortest funicular railway Awards: 2016 Beach Hut Local Authority of the Year 2016 Blue Flag beaches: Alum Chine, Durley Chine, Fisherman’s Walk and Southbourne Seaside Awards: Bournemouth Beach and Boscombe Beach 2016 Quality Coast Award Green Flag locations: Lower, Central Upper Gardens, Alum Chime, Seafield Gardens, Winton Recreation Ground, Redhill Park & Common, Pelhams Park, Moore Ave, Boscombe Gardens, Stour Valley Nature Reserve, Fishermans Walk, Kinson Common, Hengistbury Head (+ Green Heritage Flag), Springbourne Gardens, Slades Farm Playing Fields, Queens Park Golf Course, Tuckton Tea Gardens, Strouden (North) Cemetery Purple Flag Award 2016 Group Travel Awards – runner-up South West Tourism Awards – Tourism Information Service of the Year 2015/16 Silver ‘Coach Friendly Town’ – Confederation of Passenger Transport UK (CPT) 2015 Silver Travel Awards – Best Town in the UK Finalist 2015 National Coach Tourism Awards – Coach Friendly Destination 2015 Finalist Group Travel Awards – Best UK Destination for groups 2015 Runner Up Visit England Awards for Excellence – Tourism Event of the Year (Bournemouth Air Festival) 2015 Gold Dorset Tourism Awards – Tourist Information Service of the Year 2015 Gold & Unsung Hero for Outstanding Customer Service 2015 Gold Primary Times Dorset Reader Star Awards 2015 – Best Event this Year (Bournemouth Air Festival) 2015 British Travel Awards – Best UK Coastal Resort Silver 2015 2014 National PR Golden Hedgehog Awards – Public Sector Campaign of the Year 2014 The Travel Marketing Awards – Digital Marketing Campaign of the Year 2014 European Airshow Council Marketing Award 2014 British Travel Awards – Best UK Coastal Resort Gold 2014 Dorset Tourism Awards – Event of the Year (Bournemouth Air Festival) 2014 Group Travel Awards – Best UK Destination for groups 2014 Runner Up European Entente Florale – Gold 2014 2013 British Destination Awards – Best Brochure Front Cover of the Year 2013 British Travel Awards – Best UK Coastal Resort Gold 2013 2012 Trip Advisor Travellers Choice Awards – Best Beach in the UK 2012 2011 South West Tourism Awards Silver Award – Best Event (Bournemouth Air Festival) 2011 European Airshow Council Marketing Award 2011 Green Apple Environmental Awards for Bournemouth Air Festival 2011 -Ends- Please contact Bournemouth Tourism PR office for more information [email protected] or call 01202 451750 .