Lincolnshire County Council’s £1bn target for county’s tourist attractions

Tourism in the county is currently worth around £600 million a year to the local economy.

Around 20 million tourists visit the county every year, according to Visit England, with Lincoln Castle, Skegness and other coastal resorts among the popular attractions.

But Coun Colin Davie, executive member for economy and place, said it is “possible” for the region to bring in more.

It comes as the county council launched a new marketing campaign for the Lincolnshire coast in an effort to boost tourism figures.

The coastline now has its own site, as well as a promotional video and brochures advertising the area.

The idea is to promote the coast as a “year round” tourism destination, rather than a seasonal break.

Coun Davie said the authority “had not been great” at selling the coast and that it was now important to boost tourism and the local economy.

“The selling of Lincolnshire at every level is incredibly important,” he said.

“When you ask people what they want when looking for a new job, it’s a quality of life. It’s about quality of schools, the quality of leisure and if there is a beach nearby.

“We have got all of this, but we haven’t been great in the past at telling people about it and I’m absolutely determined to bang the drum for Lincolnshire.”

He added that it was important to promote the coast in order to sustain the local economy and offer “year round employment”.

“Ultimately, it is about people having year round employment and getting rid of the seasonality of the coast that causes so many problems both socially and economically,” he said.

“At the moment the tourism is worth £600 million per year, I would like to see that get to £1 billion in the next 10 years if we can, I think it is possible.”

Mary Powell, tourism manager at the county council, said the coast was “much bigger” than a school holiday market.

She said the authority’s research into tourism showed that people were “oblivious” that the coastline offered more.

“I would like to see good all year round visitor figures,” she said.

“That traditional beach market which is only good for the school holidays, I think the natural coast is much bigger than that.

“For many businesses, they’ve got to operate year round. Somewhere like the cafe at the North Sea Observatory wants customers every day of the year.”