Visitor Economy

On this page you will find:

Visitor Economy Overview

The history of tourism for the Isle of Wight AONB has its roots in the 18th Century Picturesque movement and the discovery of the scenic quality of the area.  It was a favoured location as part of the ‘England Grand Tour’ chosen by genteel explorers no longer able to tour Europe due to the Napoleonic War.  As a direct result of this some people chose to build summer residences and retirement properties, the most notable of these being Queen Victoria through the building of Osborne House at East Cowes.  Royal patronage and greater accessibility due to the railways led to the increased choice of the Isle of Wight as a destination.

It is the quality and diversity of the landscape and coasts and their geology, wildlife, historic environment and cultural associations, along with the ease of access of these areas and the ability to experience tranquillity and dark skies that contribute directly to the appeal of the Isle of Wight as a place to visit.

Cultural events are also a major draw for visitors.  The original Isle of Wight Festival was held in the AONB (Wootton 1969, Afton 1970) and although no longer located within the area, the Isle of Wight Festival pays great homage to those early roots.  Throughout the year many other events, fetes, fairs and festivals take place within the Isle of Wight National Landscape, celebrating local customs, arts, sports and pastimes and reflecting community pride in the landscape.

Painting of Osborne House in a sketchbook. View between shrubbery with a bright blue sky and white clouds
Osborne Painting by Elias Highsmith

There are opportunities for people to experience the connection between the Isle of Wight AONB’s beautiful landscape and farming by staying in accommodation in the rural area (including farm-based holiday lets) or through purchasing local produce in farm shops.

Key Facts and Figures

Information produced by Visit IOW114 identified:

  • Approximately 1.9m visitor trips were undertaken in 2023, a fall from 2.2m in 2019, due to the recovery of the industry following the COVID pandemic 2020-2021. This does not include a further approx. 300,000 arriving off recreational boats via the Island’s marinas.
  • Approximately 700,000m of these visitors are day visitors, mostly originating from South East England.
  • This contributed £ 280m to the Island’s GDP directly with a further £190m from related services. The industry provides 8023 jobs and estimated to contribute 38% of the Isle of Wight’s overall GDP.
  • Length of stay is 4 nights or more have increased since pre-pandemic levels but short breaks of 1-3 nights have declined over the same period.  Short breaks are still the most popular reason for trips to the Island (38% of all trips recorded)
  • Other popular reasons for coming to the Island is to visit friends and relatives (25%) and business trips (12%)

Sustaining the Landscape

The Isle of Wight is well known as a destination for tourists and is most often associated with more traditional seaside holidays and the international Cowes Week sailing regatta. Whilst most of the accommodation and focus of traditional tourism has been centred on coastal resort towns, visitors use these as a base to then explore the wider attractions and countryside of the Isle of Wight AONB. 

The Isle of Wight AONB offers a distinct marketable resource by highlighting the natural, historic and cultural elements of the landscape.  This can contribute to the regeneration of coastal resort towns as a result. The extension of the season for short breaks is advantageous for the economy and for employment opportunities.

Artistic art collage showing a bird in flight with its wings wide. Printed text cut out into to feathers and pressed leaves
Flight over Culver by Kai Davies

The importance of tourism to the economic and social well-being of the local community needs to be in balance with the conservation and enhancement of the Isle of Wight AONB. Wherever possible, the Isle of Wight AONB needs to promote sustainable tourism approaches and monitor the impacts of tourism on all aspects of the designated landscape.

Management Influences and Forces for Change

Visit Isle of Wight is the local Destination Management Organisation (DMO) – a collaborative not-for-profit marketing organisation, funded by IW-based tourism businesses and grants.  They are currently operating a Wight BID (Business Improvement District), following the success of the campaign to create a fund to promote the Isle of Wight through a levy on all tourist businesses. Visit IW recently updated updated their BID Business Plan115 This is a process of leading, influencing and co-ordinating the management of all the aspects of a destination that contribute to a visitor’s experience, taking account of the needs of visitors, local residents, businesses and the environment. 

The Isle of Wight is now one of 40 nationally recognised Local Visitor Economy Partnership

The key objectives in the Plan moving forward include:

1: Attracting visitors for life

2: Delivering the experience

3: Working together

4: Sustainability

The draft Island Planning Strategy21 sets out the policy context for tourism development across the Isle of Wight.  It includes objectives and policies to improve the current tourism offer.  In the designated landscape there are a number of larger tourism sites (caravan parks, large attractions etc) which would benefit from improvements to soften their impact on the landscape and its character.  There may also be opportunities to identify new tourism attractions and activities which fully utilise the natural beauty of the National Landscape without compromising its conservation and enhancement.

VisitIW promotes sustainable tourism through its sponsorship of the ‘Green Tourism Awards’ encouraging tourism businesses to become more sustainable. Three levels of Awards are available based on criteria in the fields of People, Place and Planet. This includes promotion of the use of public transport, walking and cycling as means of accessing the Isle of Wight AONB as well as to attractions and accommodation.

Furthermore, VisitIW sponsors the Annual Walking Festivals in May and October which (in 2023) engaged 2,144 participants over 143 walks. Participants included 41% visitors to the Island.

Policies for Visitor Economy

These policies should be read in conjunction with the overarching objectives for the Isle of Wight AONB as detailed on the welcome and overview page – Isle of Wight National Landscape: Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty Management Plan 2025-2030 – Isle of Wight National Landscape.

P51         Encourage the tourism sector to enable sensitive approaches to increase appreciation and enjoyment of the AONB landscape, realise AONB objectives, and provide positive benefits for tourism businesses.

P52         Support sustainable tourism activities and development that respect the objectives of the Isle of Wight AONB and also contribute to the viability of the tourism sector

Priorities for Delivery

  • Development of monitoring programmes to understand the carrying capacity of the AONB, to highlight changes in the tourism sector and to assess the potential impact of these on Isle of Wight AONB.
  • Help businesses and organisations to fully realise the potential of the AONB as part of their sustainable tourism offer.
  • Continued support and contribution to the development and delivery of the Destination Management Plan

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