Bath Tourism Plus feels the regal effect of the Queen’s Jubilee

7th June 2012

Bath Tourism Plus feels the regal effect of the Queen’s Jubilee

As Bath reflects on a weekend of festivals, street parties, concerts and exhibitions, it comes as no surprise that a record number of nearly nine thousand visitors walked through Bath’s Visitor Information Centre over the Diamond Jubilee holiday weekend.

As queues stretched around attractions such as the Roman Baths and Thermae Bath Spa, people were also equipping themselves with flags, bunting and jubilee souvenirs.  For Bath’s Visitor Information Centre reported a 13% increase on retail sales in comparison to last year’s four day holiday for the Royal Wedding and an astonishing 18% rise on desk enquiries on the previous week.

The busy Jubilee weekend follows hot on the heels of a record breaking month in May, in which visitbath.co.uk – the city’s official visitor website received a record breaking 236,504 visits - up 16% on figures from May 2011.  This increase in website traffic was also backed up with a record number of online bookings – up over 20% on this time last year and worth over £137,000 to the city.

With an estimated 4million Brits taking an overnight stay in the UK during the long bank holiday, it is encouraging that many chose Bath as their holiday destination – some of which chose social media to express their approval, with VisitBath receiving more than 500 additional twitter followers and facebook likes over the last month

Nick Brooks Sykes, Chief Executive of Bath Tourism Plus said: “The Diamond Jubilee highlighted the culture and heritage of our country, which we know is a key draw for many of our overseas visitors.

However Bath’s story is told as much through its people and local characters as our buildings and place. By harnessing the power of word of mouth and people’s love for the city, we have successfully created that online and social media buzz that will inevitably encourage others to come and experience the city for themselves.”

ENDS

Notes to Editors:  

For further information please contact Audra McSherry at Bath Tourism Plus on 01225 3224434 or email: audra_mcsherry@bathtourism.co.uk or visit www.visitbath.co.uk, the official tourism website for Bath and the surrounding area.

Bath Tourism Plus

Working with the public and private sectors, Bath’s destination marketing organisation, Bath Tourism Plus, takes full responsibility for co-ordinating the work of a busy tourist information centre, the marketing of Bath and the surrounding area to leisure and business travellers, PR activity to attract the nation’s top travel writers, a conference office, and development of Bath’s official destination website www.visitbath.co.uk