Bournemouth Hotel & Tourist Information

Bournemouth Air Festival is being credited with bringing a desperately-needed £24 million into the town and restoring the “feelgood factor” to the resort in a year of doom and gloom

The four-day spectacular was such a success that tourism chiefs want to make similar events a key part of the town’s appeal to visitors.

Tourism bosses knew the August event had been a triumph, bringing in more than 750,000 people to Bournemouth hotels from across the UK.

But a study carried out by Bournemouth University’s Market Research Group spells out the scale of its success:

• More £10.5m spent on food and drink
• More than £3m on fares and petrol
• Almost £9m on Bournemouth Accommodation
• More than £1m in other areas.

The festival was primarily funded by corporate sponsors and traders.

Evening events during the festival helped to attract and keep visitors in the town and helped reduce traffic congestion as day visitors left over a longer period of time.

Some 53 percent of the 451 people who took part in the university survey said they had a higher opinion about Bournemouth and Bournemouth hotel accommodation following the festival.

Another air festival is scheduled for August 20-23 2009.

The success of the 2008 event has been taken on board by the organisers of Bournemouth’s Town Centre Master Vision regeneration project.

Cllr John Beesley, deputy council leader, told the Bournemouth Echo: “I’m particularly delighted that, during a time of economic downturn, a council-organised event has generated significant income for local traders.

“This study has confirmed the importance of providing evening events to encourage people to stay in Bournemouth during a major festival and make the most of our excellent restaurants and hotels.