Tourism funding in the Chichester District to continue for the next year

The decision to award The Great Sussex Way (opens new window) £130,000 was made at a meeting of Full Council on Tuesday 19 November. The Great Sussex Way work with tourism partners to develop and promote tourism in the district and will receive the funding until 31 March 2026.

"Tourism plays a vital role within our district's economy and supports many jobs within the area," says Councillor John Cross, Cabinet Member for Culture, Sport and Place at Chichester District Council. "At the moment, Visit England is working with local partners to introduce a new structure for tourism delivery across the country, so this funding agreement is an interim arrangement while this takes place.

"The Great Sussex Way both market and manage the tourism offering across the whole of the district on behalf of Chichester District Council to increase footfall, dwell time and spend to our local businesses. They also liaise with, and promote more than 700 businesses and organisations. The funding that has been agreed will provide continuity and enable them to carry on their important activities for the next financial year until the new destination management structure is up and running."

A report looking into the economic impact of tourism from 2022 showed that there was a total of 5,040,000 trips (both staying and day trips) to the district, and that visitors spent a total of £317,329,000.

The report found that this supports 6,385 full time jobs, which accounts for just over 14% of all employment in the district. The report also highlighted that tourism is almost back to pre-pandemic levels.

Tourism is of significant importance to the country — in England the value of tourism on trips and spend was £106bn, welcoming 1.53bn visitors and supporting 2.6m jobs. In Sussex, the visitor economy supported 74,000 jobs (equivalent to 14% of all employment versus the England average of 11%) and welcomed 62 million visitors who generated £5 billion of economic impact.

Date of Release: 20 November 2024                                                    

Reference: 4405