Visitor Economy is Boosting Community Pride and Tills in Hyndburn
A recent event hosted at Oswaldtwistle Mills brought together key stakeholders and community leaders to spotlight the significant economic, social, and cultural impact of tourism in Hyndburn and across Lancashire. The event, with a presentation by Visit Lancashire, underlined the importance of the visitor economy in Hyndburn in supporting jobs.
According to newly released data, the visitor economy in Hyndburn alone accounts for 2.1 million visitor days, contributing over £110 million and supporting more than 1,067 full-time equivalent jobs. These figures show the powerful role tourism plays, not only in driving economic activity but also in enhancing community pride.
Popular tourism destinations include Oswaldtwistle Mills, Accrington Stanley who were one of the founding 12 members of the Football League, The Howarth Art Gallery with Europe’s largest collection of Tiffany glass, award winning parks and many other gems. The Dunkenhalgh Hotel also serves the football as well as leisure market with many away teams for Burnley, Accrington and Blackburn staying there, plus away fans.
The event highlighted findings from VisitEngland’s new report, The Social Value of Tourism, which revealed that residents in popular visitor destinations experience 23% stronger community connection and 12% greater pride in their local area compared to non-tourism areas.
“Tourism is more than just numbers – it strengthens communities, enhances local identity, and supports a wide range of businesses through its supply chain,” said Vikki Harris, Marketing and Partnerships Director at Marketing Lancashire. “This event at Oswaldtwistle Mills brought that message home, showing how Hyndburn is not only benefiting economically but growing in community cohesion and civic pride.”
VisitLancashire.com saw a record-breaking 12 million page views in 2024, a 3 million increase from the previous year. With 800,000 visits per year and 650 coaches arriving from all across the UK and beyond, Oswaldtwistle Mills is playing a big part in the local visitor economy and is happy to be a partner of Visit Lancashire.
Nick Pitman said, “”It was fantastic to welcome so many key partners to Oswaldtwistle Mills and be part of such a positive conversation about the future of Hyndburn. With 800,000 visitors a year, four restaurants, and over 650 coach trips with a target of 1000 next year – that’s a lot of visits.
“We’re proud to play a major role in the local visitor economy — bringing people to the area, supporting jobs, and showcasing what our community has to offer.”
Murray Dawson, Chair of Amazing Accrington added, “It’s great that we were able to bring business leaders into Oswaldtwistle Mills and highlight to them how strong our visitor economy is here. We’ve been telling people for years about our hidden gems, through social media, events and magazines, and the scale of the figures we were told today makes us very proud.”
You can watch a video of the event on the Amazing Accrington YouTube page, here: https://youtu.be/QZEtXayJpsE
You can see more about everything Hyndburn has to offer on the #AmazingAccrington website here: www.amazingaccrington.co.uk