23,000 jobs depend on tourism as £440m value to city revealed

York has long been one of Britain's most popular destinations, but new research has revealed that the value of tourism to the historic city is even greater than many earlier predictions.

A new research model has been used for the first time to provide the most in-depth analysis ever, and official statistics released yesterday revealed that tourism is worth 442.6m to York's economy and annual visitor numbers stand at 7.1 million. The new survey has also shown that York's tourism industry supports 22,910 full-time equivalent jobs – more than double the figure estimated in previous years.

Chief executive Gillian Cruddas of the city's tourism partnership Visit York said: "This is the most robust and comprehensive study ever conducted into the value of tourism for the economy in York.

"By taking into account not just leisure visits but also the value of business tourism, visits to events and visits to friends and relatives, the true value of tourism to the York economy has been revealed like never before – it's fantastic news – and demonstrates the importance of tourism for the York economy.

"This new survey offers us an in-depth analysis into where visitors are coming from and how they spend their money, which will enable Visit York and Welcome to Yorkshire to market the city even more effectively in the year ahead."

The latest figures have been compiled following a 12-month study which was commissioned by Welcome to Yorkshire and conducted by Tribal Consulting.

The statistics have revealed that tourism is worth far more to York's economy than had previously been thought – earlier studies had estimated more than four million visitors travel to the city each year and spend 364m.

A wider definition of a "day visitor" which has been taken from the World Tourism Organisation now includes tourists participating in sports and family events including weddings.

However, tourism leaders have stressed that the new research model cannot be compared directly with the data compiled during previous annual surveys.

A research model developed by York University had previously been used, although it has now been replaced by a new method for collating data. The latest information relates to January to December 2008, and the next annual research figures will be available for 2009 in August.

However, in order to make a comparison between 2008 and 2007, the new model has been run using 2007 data to show the leisure visitor market in York grew, with both the number of visitors and their spend increasing by three per cent.

Business tourism struggled significantly with the credit crunch, with a downward trend seen nationwide. In York, the number of business visitors and their associated spend both dropped by five per cent from 2007 to 2008, though business tourism still showed a healthy return for the city – 202.9m. While 56 per cent of all visitors to the city came from Yorkshire, the overseas market still remains hugely important to the success of the tourism industry in York.

A total of 800,000 leisure visitors stayed overnight in York and just over a third – 300,000 – came from overseas. York was shown to have the highest percentage of overseas visitors of any destination in Yorkshire.

The US continues to rank as the single most important country for foreign tourists with 35 per cent, or 105,000, of all overseas visitors travelling from North America.

The research included interviews with visitors supported by data from occupancy surveys and monitoring of attractions.