£120m lost revenue in Somerset after bad weather this summer

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Accommodation bookings have fallen 20% across the West Country this summer compared to last year, according to one of the region's largest tourism boards.

Visit Somerset say that the downturn in spend has led to £120 million in lost revenue in the county alone.

As well as the cost of living crisis, tourism bosses blame the poor weather, and technology which allows people to leave bookings until the last minute.

“It hasn’t been a good summer weather wise, or a good year," says John Turner, CEO of Visit Somerset.

"We’re hearing reports that people - because it’s so cheap to fly abroad - are going abroad where they’ll get guaranteed sunshine. Because we have the ability on our mobile phones to book very very quickly, it means that people can make snap decisions very very quickly.”

But although those issues may be deterring British visitors, international visitors are still coming in very large numbers.

Attractions in Bath like the Jane Austen Centre have seen the proportion of foreign visitors continue to grow since the end of Covid restrictions, especially Americans.

The Centre, which was threatened with closure during the pandemic, saw a record 200,000 visitors last year and is on course to hit the same figure this year.

It's a similar story at the Roman Baths, who have seen a 5% upturn in visitor numbers this summer, with the increase mainly international. Managers would like to raise the proportion of domestic visitors.

"We've got people coming to the Roman Baths from all over the world. But we'd really like to see as many people from the local area come as well." says Robert Campbell from Bath and North East Somerset Council.

Residents of Bath and North East Somerset get free entry to the Baths.