Surge In Tourism for 2015

6 January 2015, 14:12 | Updated: 6 January 2015, 14:50

It's hoped 2015 will be a bumper year for tourism in Devon and Cornwall

This time last year, the South West was being hit by storms which caused problems for tourism businesses in the lead up to Easter.

But now, independent tourism resource Stay In UK say they've seen hits to their website increase significantly since 26th December 2014, compared to the same period last year.

stayindevon.co.uk have seen website traffic increase by 126% and stayincornwall.co.uk have seen visitors to their site go up by 71%.

Marketing manager, Emma Seymour-Sloan, says "The days immediately following Christmas and into the New Year are an extremely popular time for people to look for their annual holiday as they have more time on their hands, and also may have extended family around so it is easier to make firm plans."

Exeter is one of the host cities of the 2015 Rugby World Cup and it's hoped that will encourage more visitors to the region.

Senior marketing executive Matt Fletcher says " This could lead to more job opportunities and more money available to continue marketing Devon and Cornwall. The 2015 Rugby World Cup coming to Devon will also provide a huge boost to the region an help to put the area on the map for more overseas visitors."