Love East Anglia's beaches this summer
We're being urged to book staycations
Last updated 22nd Jun 2021
We're being urged to help make the East Anglian coastline trendy again.
During the pandemic, seaside towns have seen tourism spending fall by 57% according to hotel booking platform, hoo.
They're now getting behind the calls for opt for 'staycations' this summer, rather than go abroad, encouraging us to embrace childhood memories, grab a bucket and spade and head to the beach.
Founder Adrian Murdoch said:
"Seaside towns have had a terrible time of it but they've got an opportunity and they're coming back. In a way, what coronavirus has potentially done for these areas because we can't travel, is to put them back in the hearts of the great British holidaymaker.
"I think they're going to do well this year because of the bounceback and because people can't travel, but actually there's an opportunity for these places to really put themselves back on the map."
For areas like Norfolk and Suffolk, tourism is vital to the economy, fuelling thousands of jobs.
Adrian, who grew up in the Midlands has fond memories of trips to the Norfolk coastline:
"I remember going on a school trip to Mundersley and often we'd go to Hunstanton. You know, great places, great beaches and the only thing to put a dampner on things was quite literally the weather and what we're saying to people, is they need to go and have another look at these places."
He added:
"It doesn't matter if you live in Dorset, Derby or Dundee, there will be a stretch of outstanding coastline that can offer you all the same draws of a holiday abroad, if not more, even with the unpredictability of a British summer."