Suffolk’s tourism businesses are in confident mood as the county heads into the peak holiday season, according to a new report.

The latest Visit Suffolk Tourism Business Confidence Monitor report, based on a survey conducted during June, shows that 96% of local firms in the sector are either ‘very confident’ or ‘fairly confident’ about the prospects for the key school summer holiday period, compared with a national average of 92%.

Nearly two thirds of the firms surveyed (63%) said they were “quite satisfied” with their performance so far during 2015 with a further 27% “very satisfied”.

Asked to assess their performance from Easter onwards, 88% were either “quite satisfied” or “very satisfied”, exactly in line with the national average.

The 40% of respondents in the county which reported an increase in visitor numbers so far this year was below the national average of 47%, although the percentage of those reporting a fall in numbers was in line with the national picture, at 24%.

Despite the mixed views on numbers so far, the county’s tourism businesses appear well placed for the high summer season. “From now until the end of August (including the school summer holiday period) four fifths of respondents are reporting ‘good’ or ‘very good’ levels of advanced bookings,” says the report.

And nearly two thirds (63%) are confident of achieving growth during 2015 as a whole, against a national average of 61%, it adds.