Visitors on the castle battlements enjoy panoramic views of Norwich
_About the region’s visitor economy
Volume + Value
About the region’s visitor economy
Norfolk and Suffolk’s visitor economy is the most valuable sector in the region, worth £5.9bn a year, and biggest employer, around 120,000 people.
The success of the industry in East Anglia is down to many factors, not least:
- We have a broad offer that attracts all types of different people.
- We have the best overall climate in the country and the region can be visited and enjoyed year-round.
- We have myriad accommodation providers, from camping, glamping and holiday parks to boutique hotels and self-catering cottages. We have accommodation to suit all tastes and pockets.
- We have unique natural capital, including the Broads National Park, the Brecks National Character Area, two coastal National Landscapes and a third National Landscape in Constable Country. The Norfolk and Suffolk Wildlife Trusts and RSPB manage many important wildlife sites across the region.
- We have fabulous built capital, including many important properties run by the National Trust and English Heritage as well as family-owned estates. We have picturesque villages, vibrant market towns, the unique Wool Towns, waterfront Ipswich, the Golden Mile of amusements, rides and attractions at Great Yarmouth and the best-preserved medieval city in the UK at Norwich.
- We have a strong food and drink offering, ranging from seafood and shellfish to artisanal products. We have a beer-making heritage and a burgeoning vineyard scene as well as distilleries.
- We have good transport links from across the country, not least an excellent rail network.
Each year we commission a report on the sector’s volume and value using the Cambridge Model. This is a top-down allocation model based on a variety of data sources, including attractions data, accommodation figures, population estimates, earnings estimates etc. It provides us with information including day and staying visitor numbers and spend, staying nights and part-time and full-time employment.
From this we are able to know that the visitor economy is the largest sector and biggest employer in the two counties. In 2024 the combined value of tourism in Norfolk and Suffolk was £5.9bn and the sector employed 120,000 people, both record high numbers.
