News RSS Feed


Tourists flock to town for Easter

9:28am Monday 9th April 2007

comment Comments (24)   Have your say »


BOURNEMOUTH hotels were "bursting at the seams" during the Bank Holiday weekend as forecasts for fine weather helped entice thousands of tourists to the South Coast.

With temperatures higher than in many of Europe's traditional holiday hotspots, families and day-trippers hit the beaches as VisitBritain revealed that the tide was finally turning for traditional seaside resorts.

The national tourism agency estimated that of the 22 per cent of Britons going on holiday over Easter, 61 per cent would stay in Britain.

Eight of the top 20 destinations visited by British tourists last year were beach resorts. Sian Brenchley of VisitBritain said: "There are huge numbers of domestic tourists who have fond memories of their own seaside breaks and, as they grow older, they want to recreate this with their own families."

According to the British Resorts and Destinations Association, the number of Britons who ventured to the seaside rose from 19 million in 2003 to 21 million last year. Those visitors spent an estimated £14 billion.

Director Peter Hampson said: "There has been significant investment - both public and private - in British coastal towns and resorts over the past ten years. People are only just beginning to realise this, which explains why visiting the coast is becoming more popular."

In Bournemouth many hotels and guesthouses displayed No Vacancy signs and last-minute bookings were at a premium as unseasonally warm temperatures ensured the resort's busiest weekend of the year.

Kevin Wood, director of the Cumberland, Suncliff and Cliffeside hotels on the East Cliff, said all three had been "bursting at the seams.

"By Saturday morning our 280 rooms were full and we were having to turn hundreds of people away."

He added: "I am amazed at the demand for rooms in Bournemouth and think that this town has finally shaken off its retirement image and is now known for its great café culture and cosmopolitan image."

Print article » Email to a friend »

Your Say YourThisisdorset

sam, dubai says...
3:53pm Mon 9 Apr 07

Cafe culture and cosmopolitan image?
I wish this is true, its pub culture and vulgar image this twon has become

Report this post »

adrian, christchurch says...
4:40pm Mon 9 Apr 07

most come from up north so they will feel at home

Report this post »

John, Bournemouth says...
4:49pm Mon 9 Apr 07

sam wrote:
Cafe culture and cosmopolitan image? I wish this is true, its pub culture and vulgar image this twon has become
As a Brit living or staying in Dubai,Sam, you should know all about vulgar image.

Report this post »

Trifecta, Southbourne says...
5:47pm Mon 9 Apr 07

My wife and I went into the town on Saturday evening and it was not an experience we shall be repeating in a hurry. The first bar we entered, on the Westover, was awash, with very drunk, very aggressive people, and the toilets were also literally awash and smelt unlike anything that I have ever encountered before. Quite disgusting. After a meal in a restaurant we walked up Old Christchurch Road and it was a very intimidating experience. Aggressive beggars in the pedestrianised section and gangs of drunks, of both sexes, further up the hill. We went into two more bars, hoping for something a little more sophisticated, a little less of the lowest common denominator, but it appears that Bournemouth is not for us. We were home by half past ten, considerably poorer and stinking of eau-de Benson.

I wonder how many of the 60,000 will ever return, if they had as good a time as we did?

Report this post »

Phil, B'mth says...
6:36pm Mon 9 Apr 07

Go to Bournemouth at the weekend, get drunk, have a fight - Great! Can't beat it.

Report this post »

Sam, Dubai says...
7:35pm Mon 9 Apr 07

I love Bou'nmth but the truth is always painful

Report this post »

Dave, says...
10:35pm Mon 9 Apr 07

Back for the weekend after a year. The place gets worse and worse. Filthy vomit strewn streets and an air of tension in the boring yet dangerous chain pubs. Might as well be anywhere, nothing of any artistic value left. Thank god for the beach, without that the whole weekend would have been bleak to say the least. That said, my family had to endure several groups of drunks on the sand in the afternoon.

Report this post »

Ken Warner, Vancouver, CANADA says...
4:30am Tue 10 Apr 07

Having lived in Bournemouth for twenty eight years prior to coming to Canada some forty years ago I find this very sad to hear. There's no doubt about it the sixties were the very best of times. The same has happened here too. The drunks, panhandlers and crime are now a sign of the times. Too bad.

Report this post »

Pat, Reading says...
11:31am Tue 10 Apr 07

We have just spent the Easter weekend in Bournemouth and never again.The town was filled with drunks,streets covered in vomit and an aggressive mood in pubs and on the streets which was quite intimidating.How your council can be proud it is beyond my thoughts and as a family we will be staying away.Bournemouth has gone from a jewel to a gutter-town.I feel safer in Reading and thats saying something!!

Report this post »

Adam, Bournemouth says...
11:47am Tue 10 Apr 07

Drunk and annoying people have been around since booze was invented and i'm afraid people who think they are visting 'Disney World' when they come to Bournemouth need a reality check. We moved away from Reading 4 years ago and BELIEVE ME Bournemouth is a thousand times safer. I think you need to live elswhere to appreciate just how good Bournemouth is in almost every way.

Report this post »

denis, b'mth says...
12:43pm Tue 10 Apr 07

Bournemouth has become full of drunks & beggars, simply because, apart from talking about it, the Coucil & the police do nothing to discourage such behaviour. These anti-social persons are allowed to carry on doing whatever they like, knowing that what police there are in the town centre just turn a blind eye, the Coucil are good at talking about the problem, but very little more, perhaps this year we may hear more from them as it's an election year.
The Council pussyfoot around the problem, the police don't want to know. I have seen Bournemouth as it was and as it has become and I don't like what I now see.

Report this post »

Lovinit!, bournemouth says...
2:25pm Tue 10 Apr 07

denis wrote:
Bournemouth has become full of drunks & beggars, simply because, apart from talking about it, the Coucil & the police do nothing to discourage such behaviour. These anti-social persons are allowed to carry on doing whatever they like, knowing that what police there are in the town centre just turn a blind eye, the Coucil are good at talking about the problem, but very little more, perhaps this year we may hear more from them as it\'s an election year. The Council pussyfoot around the problem, the police don\'t want to know. I have seen Bournemouth as it was and as it has become and I don\'t like what I now see.
The police do everything in their power to stop it. This Sunday the cells were full and prisoners were taken to Hampshire at the cosat of £500 per person. I tell you what considering Bournemouth is meant to be the happiest place to live we havent got many positive things to say about it!

Report this post »

denis, b'mouth says...
2:38pm Tue 10 Apr 07

Obviously I picked the wrong day to see a police officer walking past a drunk urinating in a shop doorway. Perhaps they were all busy taking their prisoners to Hampshire cells...what's the matter with Dorset cells then, not good enough for our residents, or are there not enough cells???

Report this post »

Who knows, Btown says...
6:46pm Tue 10 Apr 07

The police here are way too busy issuing tickets and "patrolling"in the cars to be bothered with the real issues.

Report this post »

Chris, Bournemouth says...
12:47am Wed 11 Apr 07

Obvisouly, half these reports from the people above have never been out in any other Town or City across the country, cause if they had they would realise it's just as bad if not worse at the weekends let alone bank holiday weekends.Unfortunatly this seems to be the way the youth lives nowerdays, but as i said it's not just bournemouth, and if everyone thought it was like that then we would never have any tourism..If you dont like bournemouth at night dont go out no one is forcing you !!

Report this post »

Nigel, Central Bournemouth says...
2:40am Wed 11 Apr 07

Chris wrote:
If you dont like bournemouth at night dont go out no one is forcing you !!

No, Chris, you're wrong. That pitiful reasoning doesn't give you or others like you permission to vomit anywhere, yell and scream through the streets at 2:00 am or rev cars through carparks at 3:00 am. Bournemouth isn't just for tourists - it's a town, where lots of people live and work. You throw your hands up in the air and say that it's the way the youth lives nowadays. Sorry, chum, that's not acceptable,and the sooner we get some councillors in who have the real interests of this town at heart, the better it will be for everyone.

Report this post »

A, Poole says...
8:29am Wed 11 Apr 07

Poole has always been superior in terms of culture and atmosphere.
Yes you still have an element of unsociable behaviour, but fortunately many of the trouble makers descend on Bouremouth. I've not once seen a fight in Poole in almost 20 years, where as bournemouth bars are on the whole a place for one chap to start a fight with another over his over exposed girlfriend or some such nonsence.
Bournemouth is far too urban too, nothing but drink culture. At least on the Quay in Poole you have nice views and water etc which naturally detract from most aggression.
Bournemouth can keep its yobs and if the remainder from Poole want to head over there too, that suits me down to the ground.

Report this post »

DG, Bournemouth & Poole says...
11:07am Wed 11 Apr 07

If anyone ever doubted the honest intentions of the council they only need to look at the sympathetically located and wildly successful I(sore)Max

Report this post »

Margaret Southon, Poole says...
11:26am Wed 11 Apr 07

Just been reading all the negative comments on what was once a very nice place. as a child my parents always came to Bournemouth twice a year with myself and 2 sisters. You just did not worry about walking about late at night. No threatening behaviour, drunks or drug addicts. We would think nothing of walking through the gardens late at night. What as shame this once beautiful resort has been alllowed to sink so low.

Report this post »

Steve Griffiths, Kinson says...
12:17pm Wed 11 Apr 07

Bournemouth is still the best town to live in. The drunken problem is no worse than Guildford, Plymouth or any big city. Us local people who want to enjoy our town on a Saturday evening must do something positive to claim it back. 'Come on Daily Echo start a Campaign to get our town back.' Let the business owners and our Councillors know we're ready to take action.

Report this post »

Lovinit!, Bournemouth says...
12:59pm Wed 11 Apr 07

denis wrote:
Obviously I picked the wrong day to see a police officer walking past a drunk urinating in a shop doorway. Perhaps they were all busy taking their prisoners to Hampshire cells...what's the matter with Dorset cells then, not good enough for our residents, or are there not enough cells???
You really cant please all of the people all of the time. Just suppose we doubled the amount of police and cells in this county. Then people would winge that it was a waste of money. What is the chance of a police man walking past at the exact moment said drunk is urinating in the doorway? Whahay! Call 999 waste police time. As for the issue of giving out tickets for £80 on the spot fines - Have you not heard our prisons are full and that is a national crisis not a local one. Get on to the government and stop slagging off local police and councillors you morons!!!!!!!!!

Report this post »

Lovinit!, Bournemouth says...
1:03pm Wed 11 Apr 07

Chris wrote:
Obvisouly, half these reports from the people above have never been out in any other Town or City across the country, cause if they had they would realise it\'s just as bad if not worse at the weekends let alone bank holiday weekends.Unfortunatly this seems to be the way the youth lives nowerdays, but as i said it\'s not just bournemouth, and if everyone thought it was like that then we would never have any tourism..If you dont like bournemouth at night dont go out no one is forcing you !!
Trust me its not just youths. A majority of the trouble is caused by visitors to our lovely town many of whom are from older generations or foreign students.

Report this post »

Pete, B'mth says...
2:05pm Wed 11 Apr 07

I would take Poole over Bournemouth any night of the week. The place still has some culture, great pubs and is far cleaner and less violent. Funny how things change as the opposite used to be true. All the nightlife and bars in Bournemouth seem the same cheap, lairey overpriced tat. The place has no spirit, its chav cash over culture.

Report this post »

A, Poole says...
2:16pm Wed 11 Apr 07

Steve Griffiths wrote:
Bournemouth is still the best town to live in. The drunken problem is no worse than Guildford, Plymouth or any big city. Us local people who want to enjoy our town on a Saturday evening must do something positive to claim it back. 'Come on Daily Echo start a Campaign to get our town back.' Let the business owners and our Councillors know we're ready to take action.
But business owners contribute to the problems, why on earth are there so many pubs and clubs in Bournemouth? - its supposed to be a sea side town, or it used to be at least. We all know the names of a certain corrupt bar owner, and an equally poor example of a landlord/property developer. (by that i mean ruining lots of nice old/large houses and turning them into flats for students)
The hostility in most of the bars is well documented, with the place known as 'The Bournemouth division of the Australian Embassy' widely reported in the local rag for its violence.
It's all gone to far to get the town back now, for those individuals who have said something along the lines of "if you dont like it, stay out of bournemouth" let them get on with it. We all know it'll take a few more serious incidents before the council or Dorsets finest do anything about it.

Report this post »

Comments are closed on this article.

TAN-TASTIC: There was no shortage of sun to soak up at the weekend. Picture: Sally Adams. ID: 4737913. TAN-TASTIC: There was no shortage of sun to soak up at the weekend. Picture: Sally Adams. ID: 4737913.

In this section

Essential Links

Sponsored Links



Local Information

Enter your postcode, town or place name

House prices »   Schools »   Crime »   Hospitals »