Traditional seaside holidays thrive at Bognor

The facts from Tourism South East show that 205m was brought into the Arun district by three and a half million visitors during 2006 which are the most recent figures available.

Bognor will have the bulk of that spending to show that bucket and spade breaks by the sea are far from finished.

The presence of Butlins and caravan sites such as Church Farm in Pagham and Riverside Caravan Centre in North Bersted means that six out of ten of the 644,000 staying visitors to Arun a year come to the town. Visitors who are staying spend more than day trippers to enable Bognor to benefit from the bulk of that expenditure, perhaps 130m a year.

For the three million day visitors, the picture is less clear. There are three million a year to the district and the split between east and west of the River Arun has not been accurately defined.

The influx of holidaymakers supports 6,155 jobs across the district. Again, the presence of Butlins gives Bognor the lead in that number.

The total spending represents a big increase on the 189m brought in to Arun in 2005.

However, direct comparisions are difficult because the way the figures have been compiled has changed.

What is clear is that the district has the third largest visitor economy in West Sussex behind Crawley and Chichester.

The statistics showed that 82 per cent of visits to Arun in 2006 were for holidays, 11 per cent were to friends and relatives and six per cent for business purposes.

All those visitors generated 276m that year.

The tourism success is summed up by the parent company of Butlins and Church Farm.

Bourne Leisure is about to pump 16m to 20m into a second hotel in Butlins after spending 10m on the Shoreline Hotel three years ago. More major spending on the site is on the way.

At Church Farm, a 3m improvement programme is nearing comple tion.

Richard Edwards, Arun District Council's tourism manager, said: "These figures show just how vital tourism is to the economy of West Sussex and the Arun district.

"We should not be complacent, however.

"Areas up and down the country put a very high economic value on tourism and are fighting to lure our visitors away."

Arun's councillor in charge of economic and cultural development, Cllr Norman Dingemans, commented: "We are delighted with these results which demonstrate that the council has a commitment to creating an environment that is beneficial for tourism and for our local businesses."