Tourism is worth more than £3.1billion to the Essex economy annually
Crowded beach at Southend on Sea on a boiling hot summer day in July. Shows lots of people enjoying the sunshine. - Credit: Getty Images
From a day on the beach to country walks, shopping and historic homes - Essex is a tourist haven.
This weekend you have a chance to run past the giraffe's at Colchester Zoo Picture: SUE ANDERSON - Credit: Archant
Tourism is a massive earner for the county of Essex and a big employer too.
In 2016 it was worth £3.1b to the local economy (up 2% on 2015 figures), employing more than 60,863 in the county in tourism and related jobs.
It represents 8,8% of the total workforce in the county, and is up 3.1% on the previous year.
The county which has attractions from the countyside to the coast, including heritage sitesm historic homes and shopping, is having an increasing number of day visitors and holidaymakers.
The figures for 2016 revealed a total of 51,609,037 day trips and holidays in Essex - including 49m day trips.
The figures were reported to the Visit Essex Conference held at the Holiday Inn at Southend Airport.
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Totals for 2017 are still be calculated but there have been increases in some areas, including shopping and leisure.
Presentations included Lisa Bone, strategic tourism manager, on plans to boost tourism further in 2018.
While John Till from Thinking Places got down to the nitty gritty of Southend On Sea, working with locals and visitors in a project initiated by Southend Borough -Council and Visit Essex.
