Guildford’s Tourism Success Bucks the Regional Trend

Published on: 5 Sep, 2016
Updated on: 6 Sep, 2016

Guildford’s Tourist Information Centre at Guildford House in the High Street

Tourism figures for Guildford continue to rise, bucking the regional trend. That’s the finding of the latest Cambridge study by Tourism South East.

Guildford Borough saw a rise in tourism value of 1.4% in 2015. Overnight stays increased by 2.3% to 1,354,000 nights and visitors spent 2.5% more than they did in 2014.

Tourism was worth £335.2 million to the Guildford economy in 2015, an increase of 1.4% on the previous year. Tourism also supports 4,528 full-time-equivalent jobs in Guildford, 8.6% of the total workforce.

David Bilbé (Con, Normandy) lead councillor for economic development said: “Guildford has seen consistent growth in tourism visits and spend over the last few years, against the decline in other areas.

Cllr David Bilbe

“With the new Visit Guildford website, new ticketing system and dedicated Tourist Information Centre we are well placed to continue this economic growth well into the future.”

Guildford Borough Council, under its tourism brand, “Visit Guildford”, has just launched a new tourism website (www.visitguildford.com) to showcase places to stay, visit, eat and drink plus events in the area.

There are also dedicated pages for venues to assist businesses and individuals looking for a place for meetings, conferences, exhibitions and events. Additionally, with the importance of the coach tourism industry to the area, pages are dedicated to group tours.

Guildford has the only full service Tourist Information Centre (TIC) in Surrey, based in Guildford House in the High Street, which sees over 100,000 visitors through its door a year.

Explaining the reasons behind the success, Cllr Bilbé said: “There are three reasons for the good performance. First we have a great team of officers supported fully by the elected membership. The fact that we have a dedicated tourist office is a great advantage and more unique in what nationally is a competitive market.

“Second, we are a highly accessible town with lots of attractions and beauty for people to enjoy. For those who also wish to reach London, we are only 40 minutes away and provide excellent accommodation in great locations.

“Thirdly we have a supportive partnership with companies and individuals offering the wide range of attractions. Guildford has a lot to offer and GBC has a focused strategy which is working.”

The success story was confirmed by Mike Warren, managing director Harbour Hotels. He said: “Since joining the Harbour Hotels Group in April 2016, our new Guildford Harbour Hotel has seen a steady increase in weekend leisure business and occupancy.

“Alongside our significant refurbishments and investment in the hotel, including our award-winning Jetty restaurant concept, this is no doubt synonymous with the overall growth of the leisure market and increased levels of tourism in Guildford.”

Cllr Susan Parker, (Send, GGG), leader of the GGG group said: “Tourism is a great source of local income. Guildford – the town of the Golden ford – still has the remnant of its mediaeval heart clearly on display.

“It is Guildford’s combination of a dense, historic town centre, surrounded by beautiful countryside which can be seen from and across the town, that makes this a good place to visit and live. Let’s hope that following party political lines won’t lead the major parties into destroying the goose that lays the golden eggs.”