1.0 Introduction
1.1 Tourism is vital to the
national economy. It generates significant numbers of jobs, impacts
on local communities, provides a lifeline to large numbers of
businesses and is a powerful tool for regeneration. It contributes
£74 billion to
GDP
(Gross Domestic Product),
employing over 2 million people making it the sixth biggest
employer in the UK. [3]
1.2 The South East Region of
England comprises the largest tourism market in the UK outside of
Greater London, due to the diversity of its region’s
environment and its geographical locations as the gateway to the UK
and its proximity to London. More than £10 billion a year is
contributed to the South East economy, equivalent to 8% of regional
GDP
and provides
employment for more than 225,000 people. [16]
1.3 Tourism is worth around
£750million to the Hampshire economy and 37,000 jobs are directly
or indirectly supported by tourism (representing 4% of the
workforce). Day visitors spend a further £690million, mainly in
visitor attractions and in the retail sector. [14]
1.4 Within the borough of
Havant tourism is an important income and generating activity. In
2004 the annual turnover for Havant tourism exceeded £160million
and supported around 3,400 jobs in the borough. A further
£42million of business turnover is generated through indirect and
induced spending [15].
1.5 This background paper
brings together and summarises the research and background
information on tourism for the borough. The first part reviews the
background material (see references at the end of this document)
such as Tourism South East surveys on visitor satisfaction and
hotel potential. The second part reviews the existing policy
context and advice within which
LDF
policies on tourism would
sit.