The wet summer has cost the Cornish tourism industry an estimated £100 million.
South West Tourism said the rain had deterred people from holidaying in the county, reducing income by 10%. And to compound this, the economic downturn meant people were spending less when they did come to the county.According to figures from the Natural Environment Research Council, Britain had its wettest August since 1962, with Devon and Cornwall receiving 125% of the 1962-1990 average.
South West Tourism chief executive Malcolm Bell commented: “Tourism is a massive industry for Cornwall, it’s worth about £1.5 billon. We could have done with a good summer this year. We had an opportunity to capture a lot of extra business with the credit downturn and people not travelling abroad.
“But in that six weeks of the summer we are weather dependent and everyone in the industry knows that is when you need fair weather and we don’t need the rain we have had.”
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