By David LennardMORE than 1.5 million visitors every year recognise the golden sands of Lowestoft's South Beach as one of the best in the country.Now their love for Lowestoft has been backed by a university researcher, who has come up with a mathematical formula for identifying the perfect holiday destination – which makes the town one of the five best resorts in the country.

By David Lennard

MORE than 1.5 million visitors every year recognise the golden sands of Lowestoft's South Beach as one of the best in the country.

Now their love for Lowestoft has been backed by a university researcher, who has come up with a mathematical formula for identifying the perfect holiday destination - which makes the town one of the five best resorts in the country.

Dr Dimitrois Buhalis, from Surrey University, has devised a formula that translates people's holidaying needs into algebra.

The formula is (A x W) + 2 [E x C x V] + v[ F x S ] divided by (T)+(TC), where A=quality of beach, W=weather, E=entertainment, C=culture, V=activities, F=familiarity and friendliness, S=shopping, T=time to destination in hours and TC=total cost as a percentage of annual income.

Dr Buhalis said: "The main variables are the beach quality, weather, entertainment, cultural activities, history, activities, familiarity and friendliness, and shopping.

"There are more variables that determine whether people are going on beach holidays, the time, destination and the total cost."

Using Dr Buhalis' theory, St Ives in Cornwall came out as Britain's top resort, with Lowestoft and Holkham in north Norfolk in the first five.

His conclusions were warmly welcomed in Lowestoft at the weekend, which is expecting tens of thousands of visitors next week for its annual two-day air festival.

Wendy Mawer, deputy leader of Waveney District Council with special responsibility for tourism, said: "We are very proud of our wonderful beach and seaside attractions.

"The Sunrise scheme has seen a major renovation of the South Beach area and the recently opened fountains on the Royal Green are already proving a big hit with visitors".

Mrs Mawer said Lowestoft had been awarded the prestigious European Blue Flag for the quality of its beach, along with Southwold a few miles down the coast.

"With more than 1.5 million tourists and day visitors to the area every year tourism plays a vital role in the Waveney economy," she added.

"It is reassuring to score so highly in the university researcher's formula, so perhaps he has devised a way of coming up with the perfect holiday destination."

david.lennard@eadt.co.uk