IT may have been the wettest summer on record, but it was business more or less as usual for Bournemouth's holiday trade.

Head of tourism services Mark Smith told councillors that the best Easter and April for more than 90 years helped boost advance bookings for the main summer season.

Although June and July were slightly down, figures rallied to provide an "almost typical" August for Bournemouth.

"Indoor attractions fared well. The BIC and Pavilion had 80,000 customers.

"Outdoor business was very good in April, poor in May to July and good in August," he said.

Mr Smith added that transport numbers were up on the previous year until June, then staged a recovery in August.

But a drop in the number of day visitors had an impact on the retail trade, which had already seen a national downturn.

The town had also had its best international education results for seven years, with an estimated 37,000 foreign students.

Mr Smith said the sector brought in £130-140 million a year, making Bournemouth the biggest centre outside London.

And with Bournemouth University's tourism and hospitality courses voted the best in the country, Mr Smith suggested that this could attract more overseas students to the town.

Despite the trouble at two of the Friday fireworks nights, Mr Smith insisted that Bournemouth was a safe town at night.

"Coming from Manchester, I know which place I would rather be out in at night," he told members of the overview board.

He added that the value of press publicity outside the town had doubled to £8 million since last year, with almost all the national titles covering Bournemouth in a positive way.