£750m boost as millions of tourists flock to Coventry

Coventry has seen a boost in tourism with millions flocking there last year.

More than 11m people paid a visit to the city in 2022, an increase of 3m from the previous year.

Major events such as the City of Culture programme, the Commonwealth Games and BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend have been cited as being responsible for the influx of visitors.

The boost saw an extra £750m added to the city's economy and has beaten the previous tourism record in 2019.

"Pre-pandemic we saw 10m visitors come to Coventry and we were celebrating that year," Paul Jones, the managing director of Destination Coventry told BBC CWR.

"The pandemic had a really decimating effect on our visitor economy, it wiped 60% off in terms of volume and value of visitors.

"We were hopeful 2022 would be a great year but we weren't sure if we'd get back to those pre-pandemic levels, so to add a million visitors on top of our record year, we were very happy."

In 2019, tourist footfall brought in £600m in extra revenue and three years later this soared to £750.86m, a report by the Global Tourism Solutions highlighted.

Visitor numbers are reported to have peaked in May and August when the large events took place.

Mr Jones added: "You can't deny the fact that the City of Culture programme really shone a spotlight on Coventry internationally."

Destination Coventry is a collaboration between Coventry City Council and Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce.

Councillor Jim O'Boyle, cabinet member for jobs, regeneration and climate change, said: "The tourism sector is important for the city's economic success and for jobs but it's also a measure of a thriving city with plenty going on for local people to enjoy too."

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