New figures show that tourism is continuing to bounce back in Mansfield after being hit by the Covid pandemic.
The number of visitors and economic impact of tourism on the district is being monitored for the council by Global Tourism Solutions so that the authority can better understand the importance of the visitor economy.
New analysis of the data for Mansfield shows that in 2023:
- The visitor economy was worth £130.76m, up from £124.75m in 2022 and making good progress back to the 2018 high of £147.23m.
- The figures show there were 2.82m visitors to the district, up 4.2% on the 2022 figure of 2.71m in 2022 but still below the pre-pandemic figure of 3.22m in 2019.
- The sector supported the full-time equivalent (FTE) of 1,540 jobs, compared with an FTE of 1,379 in 2022 and 1,254 in 2021.
- Most people visited Mansfield to go shopping, which accounted for 42% of expenditure, followed by food and drink at 29.3%.
- Day visitors made up 81% of the total value of the visitor economy, up from 80% in 2022.
- The number of visitor days also increased with 3.09 days recorded in 2023 compared with 2.97 days in 2022 and 2.66 days in 2021. However, they remain below the pre-pandemic levels in 2019 of 3.51 days.
- Spring and early summer were the most popular times of year to visit the district in 2023 with 300,000 visits in May and 291,000 in June.
The improvements in Mansfield echo data for the county which shows the total value of tourism across Nottinghamshire in 2023 reached £2.36bn, marking a 15.40% increase from the previous period.
Figures for the county show it welcomed 34.33m visitors in 2023, an increase of 4.12%. The average spend per visitor continued to climb with an overall rise of 10.81% to £68.94 economic impact per trip.
And across Nottinghamshire, the sector currently sustains 22,437 FTE jobs, reflecting a 9.33% growth on the previous year.
Cllr Stuart Richardson, Portfolio Holder for Regeneration and Growth, said: “These latest figures are encouraging and show we are on the right track – but we still have more to do to reach our pre-pandemic levels.
“With a cracking timetable of exciting events planned next year – thanks to government and Arts Council England funding to support our Destination Mansfield project – we are confident we will continue to see improved figures this year.
“More visitors bring more growth, more jobs and more inward investment and these are all vital for people to feel and experience an improvement in Mansfield’s prosperity.”
The data uses STEAM (Scarborough Tourism Economic Assessment Model), an industry-recognised evaluation of the volume and value of the visitor economy. The data will help inform future growth, investment and development opportunities as part of the district’s Destination Mansfield strategy.
