'Poor' summer weather hitting tourist trade

John Mills said he is hoping for a "nice and sunny" summer holiday season

The current wet summer is impacting sales and visitor numbers along the West's coasts, the tourism industry has said.

Somerset relies heavily on tourism, which generates about £1.3bn to the local economy.

John Mills, who runs The Sweet Shack in Burnham-on-Sea, said the weather, combined with the pressures of the cost-of-living crisis and minimum wage rising, "can be quite worrying".

"We're throwing everything we can at it to support the industry", said Kathryn Davis, managing director of tourism organisation Visit West.

"It's definitely impacted our overall sales," said Mr Mills.

"Those sitting at home thinking,'shall I go this weekend?', they're just not bothering because of the weather.

"I'm hoping that we're going to have a nice and sunny six-week holiday, and that there's going to be lots of tourists that are going to spend lots of money."

Ian Jeffries said tourism was an "incredibly important industry" for Somerset

Meanwhile, Dave Waterhouse, who runs Puffins Fish and Chips in Weston-super-Mare, said: "July isn't looking too good at all at the moment.

"The weather's been poor. We're heavily reliant on decent weather."

He said he was looking ahead to the end of July and August when schools break for summer.

"That is always the busiest time by far. Providing the weather picks up for then, it won't be too bad."

But he said if the weather continues to be bad, "then you're not really going to recover from that in the rest of the year".

'Sun makes a difference'

Rosie, from the Midlands, told the BBC in Weston-super-Mare: "There's not as many people out, you don't have the atmosphere.

"The sun makes such a difference, the place is much more vibrant and happy."

Lucy Clayton, who had travelled to the resort from Bristol, said: "People get out and enjoy the sea. Fish and chips - you name it. When it's miserable it's bleak."

Kathryn Davis, managing director of Visit West, said: "It's a mixed picture because a lot of our attractions in the region do have a good indoor experiences.

"It can be tough on the outdoor ones, but I think we've got a fairly resilient population who don't mind strapping on the wellies and putting the brolly up and going out and making the most of it."

Tourist income is crucial to Somerset's overall economy

However, she explained the industry was still recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic.

She said her company was "throwing everything we can at it to support the industry".

John Turner, CEO of Visit Somerset, said: "We mustn't despair because clearly the weather is very unpredictable, but we're still really positive the year is going to pan out okay."

Ian Jeffries from Burnham-on-Sea's visitor information centre said tourism generates "£1.3bn worth of turnover and £24,000 full-time equivalent jobs, so [is] an incredibly important industry for the county".