Tourism boosting Sheffield's local economy by more than £1.3billion, upcoming report to reveal

Tourism brings in over £1.3billion to the local economy in Sheffield every year, according to an upcoming report coming before Sheffield City Council next week.

The report, which is set to make the case for a Local Visitor Economy Partnership (LVEP) accreditation application, will come before the council's Economic Development and Skills policy committee on Thursday.

Councillor Minesh Parekh, Labour lead for Economic Development, Culture and Skills, said: "Tourism is so important to Sheffield’s economy, and to the UK as a whole. It’s consistently been one of the fastest growing sectors, a trend which is continuing as people want to get out and travel after the covid-19 pandemic.”

In 2019, prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, there were 17.92million leisure and business tourism visits to Sheffield. This staggering figure is said to have supported the equivalent of 15,076 full time jobs in the city.

More recently, Sheffield has been receiving more attention and praise for being a destination city, with TimeOut magazine naming the city one of the top 20 city breaks in Europe. They also named Kelham Island one of the 51 "coolest neighbourhoods" in the world.

Three new hotels are also due to open by the end of 2023, meaning the city will have 3,500 hotel bedrooms available.

Coun Parekh said: "Our Local Visitor Economy Partnership application looks to bolstering our tourism offer, bring in new investment into the city, and give us an opportunity to showcase Sheffield’s greatness at an international level.”

By becoming an LVEP, Sheffield and South Yorkshire will have access to "expert advice, dedicated toolkits and training programmes from VisitBritain/VisitEngland in areas ranging from commercialisation, distribution, accessibility and sustainability to business support and marketing". In theory, helping Sheffield to better harness it's "tourism strengths" as an "Outdoor City".

Sheffield is preparing an LVEP application on behalf of the entire South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority, and it's four local authorities - Sheffield, Doncaster, Barnsley and Rotherham.

In January 2023, councillors approved an earlier report suggesting the city apply for LVEP status. The full application will go before the Economic Development and Skills policy committee on June 15, 2023.