Portsmouth City Council launches five-year plan to boost tourism in the city

The 12-page document sets out three key aims: to grow the profile of Portsmouth ‘as a national brand,’ to increase the value of the industry and to ‘work with partners to manage and develop the destination offer’

Councillor Steve Pitt, the cabinet member for culture, leisure and economic development, said tourism was ‘vital’ to the economy of the city.

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‘This strategy sets out how we will work with both local and national partners to recover and grow Portsmouth’s market share of the visitor economy and encourage more people to visit Portsmouth, which is definitely one of the coolest places to live in the UK.’

In 2019, almost 15m visits were made to the city, according to council data, however in Covid-affected 2020 this fell to 11.5m with the ‘direct value’ of these trips dropping from £596m to less than £200m.

Estimated figures for 2021 show a recovery was made with the economic value of visits rising to 535m, despite a relatively similar number of visitors. as 2020.

The strategy focuses primarily on encouraging people who live within two hours of the city to visit, covering an area between Bournemouth, Brighton and London and on people in the Midlands and northern parts of the Home Counties to visit for short stays. Cruise passengers are also included.

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As part of this work, annual marketing plans will be produced and will include a focus on encouraging greater numbers of visitors from overseas, although this may be done as part of a wider south coast ‘regional brand,’ which, the strategy says, is ‘easier to communicate’.

The strategy was approved by the council’s cabinet on Tuesday (December 13) and formally launched by Cllr Pitt and other Portsmouth tourism representatives at an event at D-Day Story on Thursday (December 15).

One of the greatest contributors to Portsmouth’s economy – and short-term tourism – is the annual Victorious Festival on Southsea Common, which brings millions of pounds into the city every year as crowds flock to see the likes of Bastille, Anne-Marie and Madness.