More than 150,000 people expected to visit Cornwall over Christmas, tourist board says

More than 150,000 people are expected to visit Cornwall over the festive season, according to Visit Cornwall.

More than 650,000 people who live in the county are also expected to make day trips to towns and villages across Cornwall over the Christmas period, the tourist board said.

Malcom Bell, chief executive of Visit Cornwall, said Christmas is "very important" to the county and contributes around £65 million to the economy.

"We're looking forward to a real cash boost, because obviously cash flows get depleted during the autumn so the Christmas period is very important to us," he said.

He added that the county has seen a growing number of Christmas events, which has encouraged more people to head out in December.

"The wonderful thing that has happened is the number of towns that are doing their own events," he said.

"So everywhere, you can be getting involved with Christmas markets and experiences — there are all sorts of experiences going on in the fortnight in the run-up to Christmas, which is actually lovely because it helps December be a very interesting month."

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