Walberswick Beach credit Sizewell C Tourism Fund
Suffolk and Norfolk visitor economy tops £6bn for the first time with more jobs
Tourism in Suffolk and Norfolk hit new records for value of sector, employment and number of visitors
The visitor economy of Suffolk and Norfolk has reached a new record high, over £6bn for the first time – and employs more people than ever.
Figures released by Visit East of England, which runs the Suffolk and Norfolk Local Visitor Economy Partnership (LVEP), show that in 2025 the tourism industry employed more than 125,000 people, equating to 21% of all employment in Norfolk and 16% in Suffolk.
At the same time, the value of the sector rose by 4% in both counties, up to £3.8bn in Norfolk and £2.4bn in Suffolk.
The total value of tourism in the two counties is now £6.16bn – taking it above the previous high mark of £5.9bn in 2024 and well above the pre-Covid figure of £5.5bn in 2019.
There were a record 87m trips to Suffolk and Norfolk in 2025, 82m of which were day trips.
Staying trips were down slightly in both counties, 4% in Norfolk and 3% in Suffolk, with the biggest rises in the value of day visits, up 7% in both Suffolk and Norfolk.
2025 was the UK’s sunniest and warmest year on record, possibly encouraging day trips.
‘With all that’s been happening in the UK’s economy, including increasing taxes and costs for businesses and Cost of Living pressure on consumers, these are remarkable figures,’ said Visit East of England Executive Director Pete Waters.
‘This performance demonstrates that the visitor economy is a very resilient sector and can grow jobs at a time when new employment rules make it more difficult, in particular, to take on young people.’
‘The number of staying visitors and length of stay dropping slightly is a disappointment, but our focus now is strongly on increasing those figures again, starting with the launch this month of our £120,000 ‘Home of the Harvest – Come Hungry’ campaign that aims to drive Autumn staying visits.’
‘Home of the Harvest’ is the first paid-for campaign from the Suffolk and Norfolk LVEP and is part of the strategy to develop a year-round visitor economy in East Anglia that spreads demand seasonally and geographically.