THE Isle of Wight has seen a slight increase in visitors this summer, despite a national trend of decreasing holiday spending.

Tourism statistics released by Visit Isle of Wight, the Island's marketing organisation, revealed the positive trend, although visitor spending was down by 11 per cent, compared to the summer of 2023.

The drop in spending is attributed to the rising cost of living, which VisitEngland identified as a major barrier to taking domestic holidays.

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Overall, tourism on the Isle of Wight for 2024 is down by just 2.1 per cent, compared to the same period in 2023.

This demonstrates the Island's ability to attract visitors despite challenging economic conditions, say Visit Isle of Wight.

Will Myles, managing director of Visit Isle of Wight, said: "The day visits market has seen the sharpest rise, even though the great British weather has thrown everything it can to encourage people to stay at home, with rainfall during the period increasing year-on-year by almost 25 per cent.

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"There is no easy answer to fixing it. The current cost of living crisis does not seem to be abating, which means decisions around taking holidays and day visits are a difficult one."

The sentiment tracker research, by VisitBritain, states the top three barriers to people taking a UK domestic overnight stay, are the cost of living crisis, the UK weather and personal finances, with 48 per cent of people anticipating the worst is still to come.

The Isle of Wight also saw an increase in visitors from outside London and the South East of England, indicating successful marketing strategies in place.

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Will continued: "It is only because of the Wight Business Improvement District (Wight BID), the Isle of Wight can have such a strong voice in such a competitive market, with every tourism destination in England fighting hard for a slice of what is currently a difficult national domestic tourism market."

He encouraged local businesses to make the most of the Visit Isle of Wight website, ensuring their webpages are up to date, and events are added to its events page for maximum exposure.

"Be assured Visit Isle of Wight will promote this island off the Island," he added.