Statistics & Data

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Volume and value of trips to Windsor & Maidenhead 2019: the economic impact of tourism

This report, commissioned by the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead and undertaken by Tourism South East, examines the volume and value of tourism and the impact of visitor expenditure on the local economy in 2019 and provides comparative data against previously published data from 2018.

Here follows some headline statistics or you can download the full Economic Impact of Tourism on Windsor and Maidenhead Borough.

• It is estimated that around 0.56 million overnight tourism trips were made to Windsor and Maidenhead in 2019 (up by 2% compared to 2018). Of these trips, domestic visitors made 62% of trips (352,400) and overseas visitors made 38% of trips (212,100). Compared to 2018, the volume of domestic overnight trips increased by 2% and the volume of inbound overnight trips also increased by 2%.

• The total number of nights spent in Windsor and Maidenhead by domestic visitors in 2019 rose from 0.73 million bednights to 0.74 million bednights (an increase of 2% compared to 2018). The trip length of overseas visitors also increased by 2% compared with 2018. This gave an overall increase in the number of nights spent in Windsor and Maidenhead of 2% (1.66 million bednights compared with 1.63 million bednights in 2018).

• In total, it is estimated that around £191 million was spent by all overnight visitors on their trip to Windsor and Maidenhead in 2019, a rise of 7%. Domestic visitor expenditure increased by 4% and overseas visitor expenditure rose by 9%.

• It is estimated that around 7.8 million tourism day trips were made to Windsor and Maidenhead in 2019, a rise of 2% compared to 2018. As a result day expenditure increased by 7%.

• In total, around £473 million was spent on trips to Windsor and Maidenhead in 2019 by overnight and day visitors, a rise of 7% on 2018. Sixteen percent of this expenditure was made by domestic staying visitor; 24% by overseas staying visitors and 60% by day visitors.

• Around £450.7 million directly benefited local businesses from hotels and restaurants to cafes, shops and attractions in Windsor and Maidenhead. Adjustments have been made to recognise that some spending on travel will take place outside the destination. It is assumed that 40% of travel spend will take place at the origin of the trip rather than at the destination. Also some expenditure on retail and food and drink will fall within the attractions sector and accommodation sector.

• However, further ‘additional expenditure’ spent by visitors on second homes / boats and by friends and relatives, whom visitors are staying with or visiting, needs also to be accounted for as this represents a significant additional source of income for local businesses. It is estimated that this ‘additional’ expenditure generated a further £2.7 million in direct turnover for local businesses in 2019.

• In addition to the business turnover generated in those businesses directly receiving visitor income, successive rounds of expenditure, that is spending by these businesses on local supplies (indirect impacts) and spending by employers in the local area (induced impacts), is estimated to have generated £453.4 million to the local economy (the multiplier impact).

• Drawing together direct business turnover, supplier and income induced expenditure, and the additional expenditure spent on second homes and by friends and relatives, the total value of tourism activity in Windsor and Maidenhead in 2019 is estimated to have been around £606.1 million, a rise of 7% compared with 2018.

• This income to the local economy is estimated to have supported 6,916 Full-Time Equivalent Jobs. Many of these jobs are part-time or seasonal in nature and translate into an estimated 9,410 Actual Jobs, equivalent to 2018.

• These jobs are spread across a wide range of service sectors from catering and retail to public service jobs such as in local government, and not just tourism. According to the Office of National Statistics, there are 84,000 employee jobs across Windsor and Maidenhead. Based on our estimates, total tourism related expenditure supported 11.2% of these jobs in 2019, an increase of 0.2% on 2018.

Read the Economic Impact of Tourism on Windsor and Maidenhead Borough 2019 in full.