Devon, Cornwall and Somerset attract £552m from foreign tourism

So, I was reading the news on my iPad at John Fowler's static caravan sites this week and came across some staggering statistics!

In 2013 foreign tourists spent a whopping £552m in Devon, Cornwall and Somerset! The extra 264,000 overseas visitors to the counties meant spending was up £72m when compared to 2012.

And this year could see the stats being smashed again after Britain's overseas tourist board stated plans to make the region the focal point of its next marketing campaign.

Last year, Devon, Cornwall and Somerset attracted 1.3m visits from abroad which meant more money being spent at the region's caravan parks, attractions and restaurants. Spend by foreign tourists in Devon was up £58m year on year, to around £259m. In Somerset spend was up £16m, to £166m but Cornwall saw a decrease of £1m, down to £127m.

Tourism Minister Helen Grant said: “The number of overseas residents visiting the UK is at an all-time high and they're spending more money than ever before too. This shows how strongly our tourism sector is performing, playing a vital role in the economy's upturn.”