Devon combines a large visitor economy with distinctive natural assets, from two National Parks and nearly 700 kilometres of coast to the UK’s first National Marine Park and a UNESCO biosphere. The latest figures supplied by Visit Devon LVEP record £2.3 billion in annual visitor spend, 23.4 million staying visitor nights and 23.9 million annual day visits.
Contents
- Devon’s tourism scale
- Staying visitors and day trips
- Where day visitors spend
- Domestic and overseas stays
- Accommodation choices
- Jobs, businesses and visitor spending
- Visit Devon’s role and reach
Devon’s tourism scale
Visit Devon LVEP describes Devon as having the third largest visitor economy in England. Its geographic scale helps explain the breadth of the destination: Devon covers over 6,700 square kilometres of countryside and has nearly 700 kilometres of coast. The county also has two National Parks, the UK’s first National Marine Park and a UNESCO biosphere.
The same Visit Devon LVEP figures put annual visitor spend at £2.3 billion. Tourism supports over 50,919 jobs, equivalent to 9% of employment, and 4,876 tourism businesses. The accommodation base includes 48,079 serviced accommodation beds.
Devon’s annual visitor activity is split between longer stays and shorter visits. The supplied Visit Devon LVEP figures record 23.4 million staying visitor nights, including international and UK domestic trips, alongside 23.9 million day visits. Day visits generate £944 million in annual spend.
The visitor economy also has a stated growth ambition. Visit Devon LVEP says Devon’s visitor economy vision is to grow by over £300 million annually by 2030. That is a future target rather than a measured result, so it should be read separately from the current annual totals above.
Staying visitors and day trips
The detailed Devon & districts 2016 report provides a historical baseline for understanding the county’s tourism mix. It estimated 5.7 million staying trips and 23.6 million visitor nights in 2016. Those staying trips generated £1,359 million in visitor spend. The report also recorded 29.882 million day visits, with day visit spend reaching £1,041.240 million.
Across day and staying travel together, Devon attracted 35.6 million trips in 2016. The county received 19% of all South West day visits and 19% of all South West day visit spend. These are figures for 2016 and should not be treated as current estimates.
Plymouth was a substantial part of that 2016 day-visit picture. It accounted for 24% of all day visits in Devon and 26% of all day visit expenditure. Teignbridge and Torbay each recorded 3.6 million day visits in the same report.
The historical staying figures can be separated by visitor origin:
| Visitor origin, 2016 | Staying trips | Staying nights | Staying spend |
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic | 5,220,000 | 20,111,000 | £1,153,319,000 |
| Overseas | 469,000 | 3,500,000 | £205,197,000 |
| Combined | 5,689,000 | 23,611,000 | £1,359,000,000 |
Source: [Devon & districts 2016]. The report said domestic visitors accounted for 92% of staying trips in 2016. Its combined total was 5,689,000 staying trips, while the rounded headline estimate elsewhere in the report was 5.7 million.
Where day visitors spend
The Devon & districts 2016 report divided day visits into urban, countryside and coastal settings. Urban locations recorded 14.455 million day visits, compared with 7.777 million countryside visits and 7.650 million coastal visits. Urban day visits therefore made up 48% of Devon’s day visits in the report.
Spending followed a different pattern in scale but remained largest in urban locations. Urban day visit spend was £592.662 million, countryside spend was £189.916 million and coastal spend was £258.662 million. The report described urban locations as accounting for approximately 57% of day visit expenditure, while countryside locations accounted for 18% and coastal locations for 25%.
The day-visit breakdown is useful for comparing activity with spending:
| Setting, 2016 | Day visits | Day visit spend | Reported share of visits | Reported share of spend |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Urban | 14,455,000 | £592,662,000 | 48% | Approximately 57% |
| Countryside | 7,777,000 | £189,916,000 | 26% | 18% |
| Coastal | 7,650,000 | £258,662,000 | 26% | 25% |
Source: [Devon & districts 2016]. The percentages are the report’s stated shares; the table does not infer new averages or rankings.
For the Blackdown Hills and other rural destinations, the countryside category provides useful context without being a direct measure of Blackdown Hills visits. The supplied report recorded countryside visits across Devon as a whole, not a separate Blackdown Hills total.
Domestic and overseas stays
The 2016 report recorded 5,220,000 domestic staying trips, 20,111,000 domestic staying nights and £1,153,319,000 in domestic staying spend. Overseas visitors accounted for 469,000 staying trips, 3,500,000 staying nights and £205,197,000 in spend.
The combined figures were 5,689,000 staying trips, 23,611,000 staying nights and £1,359,000,000 in staying spend. The report also recorded 92% as the domestic share of staying trips. Because the figures refer to 2016, they describe the historical composition of Devon tourism rather than a current visitor forecast.
The length and value of trips varied by accommodation type and origin. For domestic visitors, serviced accommodation recorded 1,592,000 trips, 4,508,000 nights and £434,969,000 in spend. Self-catering recorded 420,000 trips, 2,361,000 nights and £186,339,000 in spend. Touring caravan and tent trips reached 566,000, with 2,738,000 nights and £99,457,000 in spend.
Domestic static van and holiday centre trips reached 780,000, producing 3,729,000 nights and £198,618,000 in spend. Group and campus trips were 82,000, with 207,000 nights and £10,254,000 in spend. Staying with friends and relatives accounted for 1,594,000 trips, 5,702,000 nights and £188,646,000 in spend.
Accommodation choices
The 2016 Devon & districts figures show several distinct accommodation patterns among domestic visitors. Staying with friends and relatives had 5,702,000 nights, the largest night total among the listed domestic categories. Static vans and holiday centres followed with 3,729,000 nights, while serviced accommodation recorded 4,508,000 nights and touring caravans and tents recorded 2,738,000 nights.
The trip counts were also substantial in several categories. Static vans and holiday centres recorded 780,000 domestic trips, touring caravans and tents 566,000, and serviced accommodation 1,592,000. Self-catering recorded 420,000 trips. These categories are reported separately and should not be combined with unsupported assumptions about individual properties or areas.
For overseas visitors, serviced accommodation recorded 194,000 trips, 727,000 nights and £72,794,000 in spend. Overseas self-catering recorded 20,000 trips, 229,000 nights and £14,530,000 in spend. Overseas touring caravan and tent travel recorded 24,000 trips, 115,000 nights and £5,198,000 in spend.
These figures distinguish the number of trips from the number of nights. A trip is not the same measurement as a night, and the report’s totals are tied to the 2016 measurement period and Devon geography.
Jobs, businesses and visitor spending
Tourism’s economic footprint appears in both the current Visit Devon LVEP figures and the historical Devon & districts 2016 report. Visit Devon LVEP records over 50,919 tourism-supported jobs, equal to 9% of employment, and 4,876 tourism businesses. The 2016 report estimated approximately 63,000 tourism-related jobs and £3.5 billion in total business turnover supported by tourism.
The 2016 report recorded 47,284 tourism-related full-time equivalent jobs, including 28,610 direct tourism FTE jobs. It described actual employment as 66% direct, 19% indirect and 14% induced. Within direct FTE employment, catering accounted for 9,811 jobs, or 34% of all direct FTEs, while accommodation accounted for 7,544 jobs, or 26%.
Direct visitor expenditure in 2016 was about £2.4 billion. Food and drink took 31% of that expenditure, shopping 22% and accommodation 21%. The same report separately recorded £1,359 million in staying visitor spend and £1,041.240 million in day visit spend. These measures have different labels and should be kept distinct rather than added into a new total.
Visit Devon’s role and reach
Visit Devon was formed in 2016, according to Visit Devon About Us. It is described there as the official destination management organisation for Devon, including North Devon, Exeter and Plymouth. Its platform also incorporates Visit North Devon and Exmoor, Visit Sidmouth, and three destination brands on the same platform.
Visit Devon About Us lists 9 directors and officers on its board. Its membership information says the annual Visit Devon Guide prints 45,000 copies each year, while Visit Devon’s membership page says its website reaches millions of users each year.
The Visit Devon Press and Media summary gives additional audience figures for named publications and channels. It lists Conde Nast Traveller with 75.5K print circulation and 4,484 digital circulation. National Geographic Traveller is listed with 9.9M readers, and Vegan & Travel Magazine with 20K circulation.
The same summary lists Tripset Blogger with 55,000 users and 70,000 page views. It reports 38% UK followers and 29% US followers for Tripset Blogger. Telegraph Traveller is listed with 2.3 million readers and around 500K circulation.
These reach figures describe the audiences and circulation measures stated in the Visit Devon Press and Media summary. They are not equivalent to visitor arrivals, overnight stays or economic spend, so they provide context about destination promotion rather than another tourism-demand total.