Easter bank holiday weekend brings £75 million boost to Cornwall's economy
But bosses say the cost of living crisis poses uncertainty for tourism
It is estimated that the bank holiday Easter weekend gave Cornwall's economy a 75 million pound boost.
Tourism bosses say it has been welcome for local food producers, shops, cafes as well as accommodation providers.
We're told bookings over the school holidays, and looking ahead to the summer, are strong despite the Duchy currently having some of its highest ever coronavirus case rates.
Malcolm Bell heads up Visit Cornwall, he said: "We are looking at about a million trips, that's roughly 50/50, half people living in Cornwall and the other half people coming to Cornwall to enjoy Easter.
"That brings spend of about £75 million over the weekend, which is great for the local food producers, shops, cafes and everyone else, as well as obviously accommodation providers.
"By and large bookings are good, as they normally are at Easter, there is availability, but that's what we normally find you get late cancellations due to lots of things including Covid. We are asking people to take care, we are a high Covid area."
It comes as almost a fifth of people having an Easter break say it is their first holiday since the pandemic struck more than two years ago.
A survey of 2,000 adults by hotel chain Travelodge found that two thirds were escaping over the bank holiday weekend because they have had a stressful start to 2022 and want to get away from all the gloom and doom dominating the news.
One in five said they were having an Easter break in case they cannot afford to go away later in the year due to rising costs.
More than two thirds of those questioned said they were still fearful of travelling abroad because of Covid.
The seaside remains the most popular choice for a holiday, especially areas such as Cornwall, the survey indicated.
Shakila Ahmed of Travelodge said: “Our latest travel index shows the staycation is set to be big again in 2022, which is great news for the UK hospitality sector.”
But tourism bosses say the cost of living crisis does bring a level of uncertainty to the industry.
There are concerns that if people have less disposable income, that means less money for holidays.
Malcolm Bell from Visit Cornwall told us he's finding this year hard to call.
He said: "I normally say tourism needs three things, disposable time, disposable money, but also confidence that they're okay for the future. I think the challenge we've got is people's disposable incomes have been hit, so they will be worrying about how much to spend.
"So I think you will find people making judgements on value for money, and being cautious with their spending rather than splashing the cash around as we've seen in a couple of summers. I think people love a holiday but they will be being more prudent with their money."