Tourism brings record £219.8 million in economic benefits to Lincoln

Following 2021's reports from Global Tourism Solutions (GTS), for the City of Lincoln Council, which saw a 53% economic boost to the visitor economy, the latest figures that have been released for 2022 show a 37.8% increase in economic impact totalling £219.8 million.

The new economic report paints a hugely positive picture as industry recovery continues at pace, with the data showing that in 2022, an additional 21.7% of visitors came to the city, totalling 3.588 million.

Charlotte Goy, Chief Executive at Destination Lincolnshire which manages Visit Lincoln, said: “These statistics are worth their weight in gold when it comes to showing the continued value of Lincoln’s visitor economy. As we begin our journey of creating a destination management plan (DMP) for the whole county, and the visitor economy businesses working within it, seeing this research emphasises that we're moving in the right direction. The work that has collectively been done so far since the pandemic years, and the resulting increase in visitor quality and spend goes to show just how vital the work we are doing alongside stakeholders and destination partners is.

"We have a long road ahead of us, and more challenges to overcome - the cost of living crisis continues to test the industry's mettle alongside inflation - but I believe we're firmly on the right path to success. Now more than ever, we must work together to encourage people to stay longer and spend more with our local businesses.”

THE NUMBERS 2021-2022

• The value of the visitor economy in 2022 increased to £219million, from £165million in 2021.
• Visitor numbers in 2022 increased to 3.58million (2.95million in 2021)
• 2,246 total employment across the industry during 2022 (1,746 in 2021)
• 4.04m visitor days in 2021 (3.26m in 2021)

And it isn't just Lincoln where the positive effects are being felt. Having worked closely with the teams in East Lindsey and Boston over the past year, on a number of visitor economy projects, it is fantastic to see the individual reports reflecting positive stories too.

East Lindsey

Record-breaking benefits have been recorded in East Lindsey, with over £824 million of economic impact taking place during 2022.

The findings showed the £824.2 million of investment from tourists to be the highest since the data was first recorded in 2011, up from £633.58 million in 2021 and beating the previous record of £733.46 million in 2019.

In terms of visitors, the report found that 4.48 million people visited East Lindsey in 2022, up 19%, with 1.92 million staying in the District and over two and a half million visiting for the day. 8,918 tourism-related jobs were maintained and supported in East Lindsey throughout 2022, the third highest figure since 2011 and showing nearly a full recovery to the pre-pandemic levels of employment in the sector.

Boston

Over in Boston, more than £95 million of economic impact was felt for 2022. The findings showed the £95.13 million of investment from tourists to be the highest since the data was first recorded in 2011, up from £70.96 million in 2021.

In terms of visitors, the report found that 1.3 million people visited Boston during 2022, up from 1.09 million the previous year, with 210,000 staying in the Borough and over a million visiting for the day. There were also 1,044 tourism-related jobs across Boston for the year, a 27% increase from 2021 and showing nearly a full recovery to the pre-pandemic levels of employment in the sector.

What is STEAM?

STEAM is a tourism economic impact modelling process from GTS (Global Tourism Solutions) which approaches the measurement of tourism from the bottom up, through its use of local supply-side data and tourism performance and visitor survey data collection.

The STEAM process is designed to engage the client and maximise the benefit of local tourism expertise. STEAM is capable of delivering robust outputs at a variety of geographical levels and, as such, has been adopted for use throughout the United Kingdom and overseas by tourist boards, local authorities, regional development agencies, national park authorities, and many other public and private sector organisations.