WEALDEN DISTRICT COUNCIL 

Tourism

During 2008 tourism activity in Wealden generated just over £281 million of income for local businesses which supported 4,600 jobs in Wealden are tourism and tourism-related businesses, representing 10.2% of all employee jobs in the District.  For Wealden, tourism is the second largest employment sector and therefore extremely important to the local economy/community. 

The number of tourism day trips recorded in 2008 totalled 5,310,000.  Actual monies spent on day trips totalled £156,627,000.  The amount of money spent by staying visitors on their trips was £220,157,000.

Visitor patterns on Ashdown Forest

Originally a deer hunting Forest in Norman times, Ashdown Forest is now the largest free public access space in the South East and his known the world over as the ‘home’ of Winnie-the-Pooh.  The Forest is at the heart of the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and has national and international protection because of its wildlife.  Nearly two thirds of its 6,500 acres are heathland amounting to 2.5% of the UK’s extent of this rare habitat.

Findings from a survey of visitors to Ashdown Forest in 2008 some 1.35 million people visited the Forest, with the majority of people (60%) visiting for the primary purpose of dog-walking with 0.62 dogs accompanying every person.  However, as the survey took place in August 2008 during bad weather conditions these figures are viewed as an underestimate of total visitor numbers.  From vehicle counter data from one car park (Broadstone) which is open all year round it is estimated that visitor numbers could total 2.91 million visitors. 

Of the visitors who completed the survey an estimated 169,634 people lived within 15km of Ashdown Forest.  73.3% visited once a day or once a week.  A further 8.5% visit at least monthly.  Of those visiting the Forest on a daily basis, 90.3% stated their primary reason for visiting was to walk the dog. The majority of people who visited the Forest during the survey period came at the weekend (58.7%). 79.3% of people allowed their dog off the lead for the majority of their walk, while only 5.4% kept their dog on the lead for all of the walk.

The most common reason for visiting Ashdown Forest was the ‘openness’ and views were an important factor in choosing to visit Ashdown Forest.

Cllr Sylvia Martin