Eleanor Harris: British Airways i360

A great year for tourism in Brighton & Hove

First reports are that this summer has been a bumper year for tourism in Brighton and Hove despite Southern Rail’s poor service which transports the majority of visitors to the city.

This week I attended the Brighton and Hove Tourism Alliance meeting and this positive sentiment was echoed by Jeremy Ogden, chairman of the hotel association, which reported hotel stays being up on last year. The Marina and Brighton Fringe has had a surge in visitor numbers and we beat our budgeted forecast for visitor numbers at British Airways i360 reaching 100,000 visitors in just over three weeks.

Tourism provides 17% of all jobs in the city and generates over £1 billion for the city’s economy

The fantastic weather has played a strong part, as well as the enormous PR coverage the city has gained nationally and internationally due to the opening of British Airways i360.

Tourism provides 17% of all jobs in the city and generates over £1 billion for the city’s economy so this is good news for Brighton and Hove. We are now in conference season with the GMB and Liberal Democrats in town this month, as well as countless industry associations and corporations.

On a balmy Indian summer evening we hosted BALPPA (the industry association for visitor attractions) for a flight and awards dinner at the BA i360 as part of their annual conference. It was amazing to see our beach building transformed into a wonderful reception venue (the food was delicious too)!

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Photo credits: Kevin Meredith / BA i360