Coastal tourism figures show boom times despite recession

The authority revealed what it called "exceptional" visitor figures in the 12 months to March this year, although an overall total is not known as two attractions, Cleethorpes Light Railway and Pleasure Island, are privately owned.

Almost 1.5m visits were made to Cleethorpes Leisure Centre; 160,000 to the caf at the Discovery Centre; and more than 107,000 people combined visited the Fishing Heritage Centre and Immingham Museum.

The Fishing Heritage Centre and Immingham Museum are both run by the council's museum service, and show an increase on the 94,566 through the doors on the previous year.

Sue Wells, the council's deputy director of community support services, said: "North East Lincolnshire prides itself on providing great value and our latest figures show that visits to our facilities and attractions are on the up.

"It is no surprise that the economy last year had an impact on the number of people visiting North East Lincolnshire.

"Visitors have been looking closely at value for money and places that entertain the whole family without breaking the bank.

"It is good to know that visitors from outside the area and also our own community are enjoying days out locally and keeping their spending local too."

The industry suffered a major blow, however, when Pleasure Island closed – only two weeks after opening for the summer season.

The council said it would hold talks with the owners aimed at securing its future. There are up to 200 jobs at the site at stake.

Ms Wells added: "Whilst nobody wants to see a recession continue we do hope our trends will continue in their positive direction and that visitors and local residents will want to keep coming back to enjoy our activities, facilities and great natural attractions.

"We have our fingers crossed too for some great summer weather."

Surveys of the UK tourism industry show a 17 per cent increase in domestic holidays, and a 20 per cent rise in visits to seaside locations over the same period.