TWO of Warwickshire’s top tourist attractions enjoyed the busiest August bank holiday weekend in history because of the recession.
Staycationing, or holidaying at home, has sparked a huge surge in visitors to historical properties across the country, with English Heritage reporting a 28 per cent increase in visitors to its properties in the first three weeks of August.
The organisation, which looks after and promotes a number of England’s historical properties, said overall visitor numbers are up by more than a quarter since April in comparison to last year.
The newly-created Elizabethan Garden at Kenilworth Castle – originally created for Queen Elizabeth I by Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester – resulted in double the number of visitors this summer compared to last.
And Warwick Castle is among medieval sites across Britain which have experienced a revival, which has been
partly put down to Merlin mania sweeping the country following the BBC television series.
Around £1million has been spent on a new dungeon attraction at the castle.
Visitors to the medieval dungeon are greeted by fake blood, while guides demonstrate how prisoners used to have their tongues ripped out.
Sue Kemp, general manager of the castle, said it’s seen double digit growth.
She added: “We’re making the most of it as inevitably the markets will change and people will start going abroad again.”
Warwickshire’s attractions are also seeing an increasing number of visitors from a variety of different countries.
Elliott Frisby, of VisitBritain, said: “For the first six months of this year overall visitors were down nine per cent because the recession badly hit business tourism but holiday visitors are holding up well and are up four per cent.”
Visitors from Austria are up 55 per cent, Germany 44 per cent, France 24 per cent and Portugal 23 per cent.
Mr Frisby added: “They are not just travelling to London but all over the UK to historical properties.”
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