16 April 2008

A welcoming and attractive town that people would positively recommend to others for a great day out.  These are some of the headline findings from the results of a just-published survey on visitors to Guildford town centre.

The survey was commissioned by Guildford Borough Council and the Tourism Sector Group of the Guildford Business Forum to better understand the current local visitor economy and to help make comparisons between Guildford as a visitor destination and other historic towns.
 
Conducted by the regional tourist board Tourism South East in the summer/autumn of 2007, researchers asked nearly 400 visitors a series of questions about their visitor experience.  Questions covered everything from accommodation and transport to shopping, attractions and dining out.

Councillor Jen Powell, Lead Member for People and Partnership commented: “These results are extremely positive for Guildford as a visitor destination.  I’m particularly pleased that 97% of visitors rated Guildford town centre as having a good atmosphere.  I think this, combined with a higher than average spend per visitor, means that tourism continues to make a valuable contribution to the local economy.”

Key results included:

• the majority of visitors cited leisure, holiday or a special shopping trip as reasons for their visit:  45% of visitors said shopping was the motivation for their visit, followed by 26% visiting friends and family, 18% visiting a specific attraction, 14% wanting a great day out and 13% for eating out
  
• words associated with Guildford were: shopping (84%), heritage (45%), art and culture (24%) stylish (24%) and traditional (24%)
  
• visitor opinions were high on the following which all scored 4 or more on a scale of 1-5: quality of accommodation service, the range of shops, general atmosphere, quality of the shopping environment and the upkeep of parks and open spaces
  
• Guildford also scored above the average benchmarking score for more than half the indicators in comparison to other historic towns surveyed
  
• staying visitors spent an average of nearly £70 per person and day visitors spent an average of just over £40 per day
  
• 92% of visitors said they would be highly likely to return and would also recommend Guildford as a visitor destination.

Michael More-Molyneux, member of The Tourism Sector Group said: “All of us who are involved in the Tourism Sector Group are delighted that visitors rate Guildford so highly.  We believe that we have a strong visitor offering in the borough with so many different attractions, excellent shopping and a huge variety of restaurants and pubs. The Tourism Sector Group will continue to work with the Council to capitalise on this, promoting the value of our local tourism industry and marketing Guildford to visitors.”

View the Visitor Survey 2007 in full.

For more information on Guildford’s attractions and places to stay contact or visit the Tourist Information Centre using the details below.

Tourist Information Centre
14 Tunsgate
Guildford
Surrey
GU1 3QT

Tel: 01483 444333
Email: tic@guildford.gov.uk