Leicestershire sees positive Tourism growth!

Positive growth for Leicester and Leicestershire visitor economy

Economic impact is up by 4.62% since previous year – and is worth £2.67 billion to the local economy!

New figures have revealed that the economic impact of the tourism sector in Leicester and Leicestershire is worth £2.676 billion, despite a challenging environment for these businesses. This figure relates to activity in 2025 and is up by 4.62% on the 2024 figure of £2.558 billion.

Over 32.5 million people visited the city and county in 2025, this is an increase of 1.65% on the previous year’s figure of 32.04 million, which was 2.4% up on 2023. Of these numbers, the county welcomed 21.95 million visitors whilst 10.62 million visited the city. The number of visitor days rose to 40.17 million, up 1.67% on the 2024 figure of 39.51 million – with 25.67 million visitor days in the county and 14.5 million in the city during 2025. With a challenging sector of cost increases this is a positive with national figures from Visit England showing domestic tourism struggled in the first half of the year with trips down 7% compared to 2024.

The new figures also show that the number of tourism-related jobs has slightly decreased, with more than 22,959 people employed in the visitor economy sector across the city and the county – a decrease of 174 new jobs on 2024 figures. A minor 0.75% dip shows that Leicester’s visitor economy is highly resilient. Despite intense national economic pressures that caused widespread distress and job contractions across the UK hospitality sector, Leicester managed to keep its tourism employment almost entirely stable.

The tourism figures for Leicester and Leicestershire are taken from the 2025 Scarborough Tourism Economic Activity Monitor (STEAM) survey. A full 12 months of data is needed before the figures can be compiled, so the data always relates to the previous year.

These positive tourism results have been welcomed by Leicester City Council and Leicestershire County Council that both support the Local Visitor Economy Partnership for Leicester and Leicestershire (known as Visit Leicester). Visit Leicester is the Visit England accredited team responsible for promotion tourism across the whole area.

Cllr Vi Dempster, Assistant City Mayor for Culture at Leicester City Council said: “Tourism makes a huge contribution to our local economy, which is why it’s essential we continue to invest in our city centre, promote our heritage and support our tourism and hospitality sector.

“With 10.62 million visitors to the city last year, Leicester is attracting significant interest in our cultural, festival and heritage offer. We are working hard through our Volunteer Tourism Ambassador programme to ensure visitors are welcomed and given the information they need to get the most from their visit. I am confident that we will be welcoming many more visitors to the city in the future.”

Councillor Kevin Crook, Leicestershire County Council deputy Leader and cabinet member for tourism, said: “As a county Leicestershire is lucky to have both a history and range of attractions, so to see nearly 22 million visitors last year is fantastic news.

“Making both the county and the city attractive to visitors means our local businesses and employers can continue to thrive – that’s why we’re working to ensure Visit Leicester keeps showcasing what we have to offer.”

Erika Hardy, Chair of the Local Visitor Economy Partnership Advisory Board for Leicester and Leicestershire, said: “We are so proud of what we have to offer visitors and were delighted to launch our new Tourism Growth Plan earlier this year to build on our local pride and strong partnerships. It’s great to see visitor numbers are growing which are so important for our local economy.”