Latest Tourism Figures Show ‘Mixed Bag’ For Island's Peak Season Visitors

Visit Isle of Wight, the Island’s destination marketing organisation, is today releasing the results of the tourism statistics for the all-important summer season.

The figures, regarded in the industry as one of the most robust visitor surveys in the UK and carried out for Visit Isle of Wight by an independent company, show the latest figures available for Quarter 3 (July, August and September 2024).

The results show the average overnight visitor spend for Quarter 3, when compared to the same period in 2023, was down by 11%, reflecting a national trend highlighted by VisitEngland that one of the main barriers to people taking a domestic holidays is the rising cost of living, with most UK adults suggesting they are either ‘cautious and being very careful’.

However, the Isle of Wight did see an increase in the overall number of visitors across the summer period. Although the increase was just 1%, it shows that the work of Visit Isle of Wight and its partners continues to have a positive effect in encouraging people to the Island.

Comparing the 2024 year to date (1st Jan – 30th September) to the same period in 2023, it shows that tourism on the Isle of Wight is down by just 2.1% overall.

Visit Isle of Wight Managing Director, Will Myles, said:

"The day visits market has seen the sharpest rise even though the Great British weather has thrown everything it can to encourage people to stay at home with rainfall during the period increasing year on year by almost 25%.

"There is no easy answer to fixing it and the current “cost of living crisis” does not seem to be abating, which means that decisions around taking holidays and day visits are a difficult one.

"The VisitBritain monthly sentiment tracker research states that the top 3 barriers to people taking a UK domestic overnight stay are “Cost of Living crisis, the UK weather and personal finances” with 48% of people thinking that the worst is still to come."

Will also states that the latest figures also show an increase in the number of people visiting from outside London and the South East of England:

"Our local market has always been strong, and awareness of the Isle of Wight is high in the local area, which has led us to focus on other areas of England in a bid to attract them, and these results show that we are being successful there.

"It is only because of the Wight BID that the Isle of Wight can have such a strong voice in such a competitive market, with every tourism destination in England fighting hard for a slice of what is currently a difficult national domestic tourism market.

"We continue to fight that current trend by demonstrating time and again, day in and day out, that the Isle of Wight is an incredible place to visit, be it for the day or for longer in our off-island messaging."

"Visit Isle of Wight, working with VisitEngland, Tourism South-East and our partners here on the Island, continues to demonstrate that even in these difficult times, we can reach out by highlighting the Island successes, such as awards like the Seaside Heritage awards, the Wanderlust nomination, Conde Nast Awards, Wight In Bloom, South East in Bloom, industry awards such as Best Group destination at the Group Leisure and Travel Awards to name but a few."

Will also urges local businesses to make the most of the Visit Isle of Wight website: