Suffolk can look forward to at least three more years of the “Springwatch effect” – even though the show may be broadcast from another part of the country in future.
The BBC programme’s popularity has already brought more visitors in the past two years, having exposed the beauty of the county and superb wildlife habitat at the RSPB Minsmere reserve to a huge TV audience.
Minsmere visitor experience manager Matt Parrott said reserves had often found the first year of the show sowed a seed with a real increase in interest in future years.
He said: “The second year was really busy and we expect it to be even busier this time.
“The experience generally is that for three years after Springwatch has visited numbers at reserves where it has been continue to increase around the time the show is broadcast – so people see the programme again and with it still fresh in their minds they will visit Minsmere.
“We are expecting a big influx over the next couple of weeks, especially with so much wildlife to see at the moment, then perhaps a lull and then it will get busy for the summer holidays.”
A spokeswoman for Visit Suffolk said: “Despite a challenging year so far for tourism businesses with the unsettled weather, the general outlook is fairly optimistic with advanced booking levels among accommodation providers looking strong, and business performance up year on year as a whole for 2016 compared to last year.
“Events like BBC Springwatch at RSPB Minsmere can only support this trend of driving more visitors to our wonderful county and impacting positively on our local economy.
“Not only does Minsmere provide one of the most unique natural habitats in the world, it has successfully put Suffolk firmly on the map. Viewers with very little experience of Suffolk will now at least have had a taster of what to expect.
“In addition to the series, Visit Suffolk has capitalised on BBC Springwatch, using it as a hook through social media and content to drive further inspiration amongst new and returning visitors.”
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