TOURISM contributes nearly £400 million a year to the town’s economy every year, new figures from Reading Destination and Economy Agency show.
A new report, the first of its kind in Reading, was commissioned last year to investigate how much was spent in the town through tourism.
It found that around £329.9 million is added to Reading’s economy through nearly 7 million day visits and overnight stays.
This supports more than 6,700 jobs, directly and indirectly, providing work to around 6% of the working population.
The report details that the retail sector is the biggest beneficiary, with more than £100m’ worth of spending going to shops, closely followed by restaurants, bars, and cafes.
Hotels and other accommodation also see around £42m of revenue from tourism, with leisure stays making up more than 40% of overnight visits to the town.
The report showed that a higher proportion of those visiting from within the UK come for lesiure purposes, compared to less than 10% of those visiting from overseas.
Just over a quarter stay overnight for business reasons from overseas, and just under a quarter for the same reasons when visiting from within the UK.
While a similar proportion, 25%, of UK visitors are seeing friends or relatives, this figure jumps to 45% for those visiting from abroad.
Day trips make up the largest contributions, constituting around £189m of revenue generated by 6.5m visitors, and overnight stays contributing more than £120m.
The Economic Impact of Tourism for Reading 2023 report was commissioned by REDA and examines research conducted by TSE Research.
It uses the Cambridge Tourism Economic Impact Model, developed by Geoff Broom Associates and the Regional Tourist Boards of England.
The model combines regional and national data sources, breaking down national activity which is then cross-referenced with accommodation and occupancy data for the borough.
Alex Brannen, Tourism Lead at REDA said: “Reading has an amazing tourism offer for visitors, from great shopping to tours of Reading Abbey Ruins and River Thames cruises, excellent conference and meeting venues and the cream of hotels in the Thames Valley.
“Post pandemic, as working styles, this report shows how important both leisure visits and business visitors are to Reading’s economy.”
He explained: “Reading’s visitor economy is worth nearly £400 million to the town, according to the estimates generated by this report.
“However, the true value of this report will be to provide REDA with a benchmark against which to judge future economic growth relating to tourism and the visitor economy.”
