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Tourism and Leisure
Plymouth is an ambitious city that is focussed on growing its visitor economy. In support of this ambition, Destination Plymouth, established in 2012, was set up to drive forward the city’s visitor marketing agenda and raise the profile of Plymouth on a local, national and international scale to attract more visitors to the city, with an ambition to grow visitor numbers and visitor spend year on year.
In the lead up to 2020 Plymouth is investing in developing its offer to visitors. Projects include the £45m investment to transform the existing Museum and Art Gallery, Central Library and St Luke’s Church buildings into a new, unique cultural attraction that highlights Plymouth and its place in the world. The exciting History Centre development, now officially branded as The Box, is set to open in spring 2020 as part of the Mayflower 400 commemorations.
Other capital investment projects include the redevelopment of the Railway Station and public realm improvements.
Click here to view the Tourism sector factsheet
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Plymouth Visitor Plan 2020 – 2030
Plymouth aims to grow visitor numbers by 15% from 5.1 to 6 million by 2030, and visitor spend by 30%, generating 1,000 new jobs to bring employment in tourism to just over 9,000 jobs.
The Plymouth Visitor Plan 2020 – 2030 is now online and available to view.
Destination Plymouth
Destination Plymouth is a partnership between Plymouth City Council and businesses in the city centre and waterfront areas, it co-ordinates the delivery of the Visitor Plan for Plymouth 2020 – 2030 and brings together the activities of the City Centre Company and the Plymouth Waterfront Partnership, both of which are Business Improvement Districts.
Events
The city hosts a number of high-profile and award winning events each year, including Pirates Weekend Plymouth, Flavour Fest, Armed Forces Day, Plymouth Seafood Festival, British Firework Championships and world-class sailing events such as OSTAR and TWOSTAR.
Event attendance figures each year reach over 400,000 people. British Firework Championships alone attracts over 100,000 visitors with an economic impact of £5.2 million for the city. PR activities achieved press coverage to the value of £1.6 million with a reach of 325 million people
Existing and new developments
The new £4.8 million Plymouth coach hub moved to the heart of the city centre in 2016. Transport links are being further strengthened with the planned regeneration of the Plymouth’s railway station. The Railway Station regeneration will attract inward investment of £48 million over the next 10 years, create 705 jobs and 13,000 sq m of new education, retail and leisure space. Drake Circus The Barcode, the new leisure and entertainment centre in Plymouth, opened in October 2019, and includes a 12 screen IMAX cinema complex, plus indoor adventure golf, a number of restaurants and more to come.
Heritage
Plymouth has had a long history as one of the most important naval towns in the UK and was the port where many famous explorers were based or disembarked from our shores. There are over 750 listed buildings in Plymouth and over 200 can be found around The Barbican.
Did you know Plymouth has the highest concentration of cobbled streets in England?
Mayflower 400
Plymouth will be the UK’s lead city to host the 400th anniversary of the sailing of the Mayflower in 1620. It will deliver a programme of events on a transformational scale, and is a platform for international celebrations and commemorations. Mayflower preparations are providing a catalyst for growth with a number of high profile capital investments and regeneration projects underway. For more informatoin visit their website.
The Box Plymouth
A £45 million project to create a new history centre, The Box will include cutting-edge galleries, high profile exhibitions and interactive events which will take visitors on a journey from prehistory to the present and beyond. Opening in 2020, The Box is expected to attract 300,000 visitors a year from across the world. See more on their website.
Plymouth is well connected
There are 24 trains to London Paddington per day, with journey times from three hours. Three international airports located within a two hour driving distance. Daily sailing to Roscoff and weekly to Santander with Brittany Ferries.
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