Tourism brings millions to county

Lincoln's Christmas market is a popular tourist draw

Tourism in Lincolnshire generates more than £860m a year, according to figures from the county's tourism authority.

The top earning area of the county was East Lindsey district - which includes the popular resort of Skegness - with almost £400m.

The City of Lincoln earned a total of £113m from tourism for 2006, Lincolnshire Tourism said.

"The industry is not as seasonal as it used to be," Lincolnshire tourism chief executive Penny Baker said.

Fiona Sherry, who runs an ice cream kiosk in Skegness, said the council has worked hard to improve the area.

'Big business'

The county had 13.5 million day visitors and 3.2 million tourists on longer visits.

"Tourism is big business for the county and in many areas the visitor economy now ranks as one of the most important economic activities supporting jobs and communities," said Ms Baker said.

Skegness hotel manager Nigel Underwood said bookings for 2008 summer season were looking positive so far.

"It is difficult to say whether the credit crunch will effect family travellers and weekends , but by and large the season's bookings are holding steady."

The county's tourism website attracted 1.2 million web visitors during the year, she added.

The Boston borough area earned £44m from tourism, while North Kesteven district attracted £75m from tourists and South Holland earned £57m and South Kesteven had £104m and West Lindsey earned £74m.