Published: Thursday, 12th April 2018

Tourism in Royal Greenwich is currently at an all-time high.

The Royal Borough has hosted many events over the years, some of which attract people from all over the world. Latest tourism figures show that in 2017 overnight stays in local hotels exceeded the one million mark - 60 per cent more than in 2013, which shows that Greenwich is definitely worth staying overnight for!

Spending of over £1.3 million has helped support the borough's economy including restaurants, markets and hotels, as well as creating a positive knock-on effect for other types of business, big and small.

With such a boost in tourism, this is great news for the 16,000 local jobs that the industry supports in the Royal Borough.

Events and festivals

As well as home to a host of tourist attractions including the world-famous Greenwich Market and maritime history, Royal Greenwich has a number of public events and festivals that take place throughout the year, including the:

  • renowned Greenwich and Docklands International Festival that takes place in Woolwich and Canary Wharf each year
  • annual Great Get Together and Armed Forces Day
  • Council's annual programme of summer and Christmas events that regularly attract thousands.

Last year's Tall Ships 2017 Regatta event also helped swell visitor numbers, with over 500,000 visitors heading to Woolwich and Greenwich town centres for the four day event over the Easter period.

Recently a new Destination Management Plan for Woolwich was launched which aims to increase visitor numbers in Woolwich. Soon a new world-class Creative District will be open to the public, further boosting tourism numbers in Woolwich and surrounding towns.

'Over one million people stayed overnight in Greenwich'

Barrie Kelly, Chief Executive of Visit Greenwich said: "We are delighted with these destination performance figures. Since Visit Greenwich was set up by Royal Greenwich, tourism has grown in value by 26 per cent, which puts us ahead of our plan. Our strategy is to improve the quality and value of tourism, not just visitor numbers.

"Over one million people stayed overnight in Greenwich in 2017 which is a big increase reflecting the improving quality and capacity of our hotel stock."

Find out about tourism in the borough on the Visit Greenwich website