Somerset tourism generated £339 million in gross value added (GVA) in 2020, equivalent to 3.1% of the county’s total economic output. The same sector supported more than 18,964 full-time equivalent jobs, or roughly 8.5% of all Somerset jobs. More recent indicators show strong seasonal accommodation demand, a large South West visitor market and changing booking behaviour.
Contents
- The scale of Somerset’s tourism economy
- Where tourism activity is concentrated
- The South West visitor market
- Accommodation demand and occupancy
- Visitor behaviour and local spending
- Access, attractions and visitor information
- Booking channels and market signals
The scale of Somerset’s tourism economy
The Somerset Trends Sector Profile: Tourist Industries measured Somerset tourism at £339 million of GVA in 2020. GVA is a measure of the value generated by economic activity, so this figure describes tourism’s contribution to the county economy rather than visitor spending alone. In that year, tourism represented 3.1% of all economic output in Somerset.
Employment was a substantial part of the sector’s footprint. Tourism accounted for more than 18,964 full-time equivalent jobs in 2020. That was roughly 8.5% of all jobs in Somerset, placing tourism among the county’s important sources of employment even during a year affected by major disruption to travel and hospitality.
The same profile reported tourism productivity of £17,890 GVA per full-time equivalent worker in Somerset in 2020. This was nearly 37% of the county’s average productivity of £48,440. It was also below the national tourism-sector figure of £60,720. These figures should be read as sector productivity measures for 2020, not as a current estimate of individual wages or business profitability.
Somerset Council describes Visit Somerset as representing a £1.3 billion visitor economy. That council figure is a different measure and source from the Somerset Trends estimate of £339 million GVA in 2020; the two should not be added together. The council also describes Somerset as having a thriving tourism industry spanning hospitality, tourism, retail, attractions, activity providers, museums, entertainment and the arts.
Where tourism activity is concentrated
The 2020 Somerset Trends Sector Profile divides the county’s tourism GVA among four former local authority areas. Somerset West and Taunton contributed the largest share at 34%, followed by South Somerset at 24%. Mendip and Sedgemoor each contributed 21%.
| Area | Share of Somerset tourism GVA, 2020 |
|---|---|
| Somerset West and Taunton | 34% |
| South Somerset | 24% |
| Mendip | 21% |
| Sedgemoor | 21% |
The four percentages describe the distribution of Somerset tourism GVA within the profile’s geography. They are not visitor shares, accommodation shares or shares of all local economic output. The largest contribution came from Somerset West and Taunton, while the other three areas each supplied around one-fifth to one-quarter of the measured tourism GVA.
Employment concentration also varied. Tourism represented 9.4% of employment in Somerset West and Taunton and 9.7% in Mendip in 2020. Those percentages are higher than the county-wide tourism employment share of roughly 8.5%.
Productivity differed between local areas as well. Mendip tourism productivity was £17,340 GVA per full-time equivalent worker, while Sedgemoor recorded £18,410. Both figures relate to 2020 and sit close to the county tourism productivity figure of £17,890, while remaining far below the county-wide average productivity of £48,440 reported for all sectors.
The council’s business support information identifies different organisations serving different tourism geographies. Visit Somerset is listed as the county destination management organisation supporting businesses through marketing and consultancy. Visit Exmoor is listed as supporting tourism across Exmoor National Park, West Somerset and the Quantock Hills. Visit South Somerset welcomes existing tourism businesses and start-ups in South Somerset. These roles help explain why Somerset tourism statistics may appear under several destination and local-area labels.
The South West visitor market
The South Somerset Holiday Accommodation & Function Room Appraisal reported 16.4 million visitors to the South West in 2023. That represented 17% of England’s total visitors. South West trip expenditure was £4,477 million in the same year, also 17% of England’s total trip expenditure.
These are regional figures rather than Somerset-only totals, but they provide context for the market in which Somerset destinations compete. The region combines coastal, rural, heritage and urban visits, and Somerset is one of the destinations within that wider South West visitor economy.
The South West Visitor Economy Hub reported several changes between 1 December 2023 and 30 November 2024. Visitor footfall increased by 107.1%, while daily car park tickets sold increased by 93.3%. Visitors to attractions increased by 11.8% over the same period. Debit card spending on food and drink rose by 2%, and debit card spending on entertainment rose by 3.2%.
The South West Heritage Trust recorded a 146.219% increase in visitors to its Somerset sites from 2021–22 to 2023–24. This is a change over a stated two-year span for the trust’s Somerset sites, not a measure of all Somerset attractions or total county visitor numbers.
The Hub’s Somerset Q1 2025 highlights also reported that Somerset short-term-rental listings rose 0.4% compared with Q1 2024. Its dataset covers £47 billion in debit card transactions, equivalent to 7% of UK debit card spending. That coverage describes the scale of the evidence base, not the amount spent in Somerset.
Accommodation demand and occupancy
Somerset accommodation figures show a clear difference between average performance and the busiest summer month. Serviced accommodation reached 75% occupancy in August 2024. Across January to August 2024, overall room occupancy for Somerset serviced accommodation was 56%.
Short-term rentals averaged 59.5% occupancy to August 2024, compared with 56.6% for 2023. In August 2024, short-term-rental occupancy reached 87%, up from 80% in August 2023. The annual and year-to-date averages should not be compared directly with the August peaks: they cover different periods and capture more low-season nights.
| Somerset accommodation measure | Period | Occupancy |
|---|---|---|
| Serviced accommodation | August 2024 | 75% |
| Serviced accommodation | January–August 2024 | 56% |
| Short-term rentals | To August 2024 | 59.5% |
| Short-term rentals | 2023 average | 56.6% |
| Short-term rentals | August 2024 | 87% |
| Short-term rentals | August 2023 | 80% |
The pattern indicates that the summer high point was considerably stronger than the broader January-to-August or annual averages. It also shows a higher August short-term-rental occupancy in 2024 than in 2023. These figures are occupancy measures, not counts of available rooms, nights sold or accommodation revenue.
The South West Visitor Economy Hub’s Somerset Q1 2025 report said more than half of overnight visitors booked directly with providers. It also reported an average booking lead time of 74 days. Together, those figures point to a market in which direct relationships remain important and visitors often commit more than two months before arrival, although the report does not quantify the exact direct-booking share or a breakdown by accommodation type.
Visitor behaviour and local spending
The South Somerset Holiday Accommodation & Function Room Appraisal surveyed interested consumers outside Devon or Somerset about travel in the next 12 months. Fifty-seven percent said they would travel for a short break, while 27% said they would travel for a longer break. These are stated intentions among the surveyed group, not completed trips or a forecast of Somerset arrivals.
Among those consumers, 45% said they were most likely to eat and drink out, and 39% said they were most likely to visit local attractions. The figures suggest that food, drink and attractions are prominent planned activities for potential visitors, but they do not measure actual spending or attendance.
The appraisal also reported a 30% rise in visitor numbers at the South Somerset Visitor Information Centre from April 2023 compared with the previous year. Sales at the centre rose 30% over the same comparison. Because both measures refer to the information centre, they should not be treated as growth rates for all South Somerset tourism.
The South West Visitor Economy Hub report on tourism-sector challenges and opportunities gave additional regional context. More than 50% of visitors travelled as couples in Devon, which the report used as a benchmark for the wider South West visitor market. The same report said 76% of visitors had no children at home. These figures are explicitly reported for the Devon benchmark and wider regional context, rather than as a Somerset-only demographic profile.
That report recorded a visitor-satisfaction Net Promoter Score of 66. It also said visitor numbers at attractions fell by almost 8% in 2024 compared with 2023, while footfall in Devon increased during Easter, the May half-term and the summer holidays. Those measures cover the report’s stated regional or Devon geography and period; they do not replace the separate Somerset accommodation and South West footfall indicators above.
Access, attractions and visitor information
Transport indicators provide another view of changing access to the region. Domestic passenger movements at Bristol Airport were up 3.6% in January–July 2024 compared with January–July 2023. International passenger movements were up 4.5% over the same comparison. Bristol Airport is not in Somerset, so these figures are an access indicator for the wider market rather than a count of Somerset visitors.
Castle Cary station entries and exits increased by 40% between 2018 and 2023. This is a station-specific measure of rail use and does not show how many passengers stayed in Somerset, continued elsewhere or travelled for tourism.
The South West Visitor Economy Hub reported increases in visitor footfall, car park tickets and attraction visits between 1 December 2023 and 30 November 2024, but its figures describe different measures. Footfall is not equivalent to unique visitors; car park tickets are transactions; and attraction visits may include repeat visits. Keeping these measures separate avoids turning several indicators into an unsupported total.
Somerset Council says it wants to increase visitor figures to the area. Its business-support information places that ambition alongside the county’s broad tourism offer and the role of Visit Somerset as a destination management organisation. Visit Exmoor and Visit South Somerset provide additional geographic focus for businesses and destinations within the county and its neighbouring visitor areas.
Booking channels and market signals
The South West Visitor Economy Hub’s Somerset Q1 2025 highlights identified the South East and Wales as Somerset’s main visitor markets outside the South West. The same report said Booking.com accounted for nearly half of online travel agency bookings, while Airbnb accounted for 26%. These percentages describe OTA bookings, not all overnight bookings, because more than half of overnight visitors booked directly with providers.
The reported 74-day average booking lead time gives accommodation businesses a useful timing indicator. It is an average for Somerset in the Q1 2025 report, not a guarantee that every visitor books 74 days in advance. Lead times also vary by season, accommodation type and trip purpose, but no further breakdown is provided here.
The regional comparison report supplied two Devon short-term-rental indicators. Devon’s average daily rate was £202 in 2024, up £5 from the previous year, while short-term-rental occupancy was 56% in 2024, down from 74% in 2019. These are Devon figures and should not be presented as Somerset prices or occupancy. They provide a nearby benchmark for interpreting accommodation performance in the wider South West, with geography and comparison years kept explicit.
The same report said average accommodation booking lead time fell from 125 days in 2022 to 102 days in 2024. This regional comparison differs from Somerset’s 74-day average in Q1 2025 because the geography, period and underlying measure are not identical. Together, the figures show why tourism planning should distinguish a local quarterly average from a wider multi-year benchmark.
Finally, the South West Visitor Economy Hub said hundreds of businesses across Devon and Somerset had already signed up to compare performance. That participation statement describes the reach of the benchmarking initiative; it is not a count of all tourism businesses in either county.