Heatwave brings boost for tourism across region
Atlantic ReachTourism businesses across the South West and Channel Islands have reported higher visitor numbers during the summer's heatwaves.
Atlantic Reach holiday park and Cornwall Slip and Slide, near Newquay, have reported a 10% increase which the team has attributed to the heatwaves.
In Devon, trustees at the outdoor, charity-run Victoria Pool said the heat had resulted in more swimmers and lower costs, since the sun had warmed the water and reduced the need for gas boilers.
A restaurant owner in Jersey said his business had experienced the strongest summer in its 25-year history, while Visit Guernsey has reported a 5% rise in June's accommodation occupancy rate compared to June 2025.
In Buckfastleigh, Devon, the heatwave has delivered a different kind of financial benefit.
The team at Victoria Pool, a charity-run outdoor swimming pool, said soaring temperatures had significantly reduced the heating costs while attracting record numbers of swimmers.
Trustee James Rice said the weather had created a "double whammy" for the organisation.
"The heat has helped us so much with the cost of heating the pool," he said.
The pool is normally heated by two gas boilers, but Rice said the recent sunshine meant they had barely been needed.
"I don't think our boilers have had to work," he said.
"The sun has pretty much done the job for us for, I think, the last 10 weeks."
He said the heat has also helped bring more visitors through the gates.
Rice said the opening weeks of the season were potentially the busiest since the pool reopened under community ownership more than a decade ago.
A business owner in Jersey has said although the heatwaves had led to some closure, they had also attracted more customers.
Ian Carr, owner of the Waffle House in St Helier, said he had been forced to close during the hottest days of the year because equipment and staff had struggled to cope with the conditions.
"We did have to close for the three hottest days which has never happened in the 25 years that I've been doing this," he said.
Despite that setback, Carr said the summer had been one of the strongest he could remember.
He said fewer rainy days had helped increase turnover and attract more customers, including growing numbers of visitors from France, Germany and the Netherlands.
However, Carr warned longer term challenges remained for the tourism and hospitality sector.
"I've seen tourism decline the entire time that I've been doing this in the past 20 years," he said.
Visit Guernsey's marketing manager Sam Claxton said there had been some "uplift" in visitor numbers "which may be linked to the recent heatwave".
Claxton said the accommodation occupancy rate in Guernsey had reached 84% in June, up from 79% in June 2025 and 2024.
Airport passenger numbers were up by 3% in June and 10% in July compared with the same months last year and the number of ferry passengers in July was up by 8% compared with July 2025, he added.
Andy Furniss, who runs Le Petit Train trips in St Peter Port, said German, Dutch and French visitors day trippers from St Malo have been "incredible for trade".
Furniss said: "Our trade this year is significantly up on last year, even with a 60% decline in cruise ships coming to Guernsey.
"Walk-up trade is significantly higher this year than it has been since 2019."
