IN EXCESS of 600,000 people visited the coast for this year’s Bournemouth Air Festival, contributing tens of millions of pounds to the local economy.
Figures from the annual event, which took place from Thursday, September 1 to Sunday 4, show how multiple agencies and organisations coped across the jam-packed festival.
157 full buses transported around 12,500 passengers to the event via the Park and Ride facility at Kings Park, which removed approximately 2,000 cars from the roads.
Around 8,500 journeys were made by Beryl e-bikes, pedal bikes and scooters during the four days outside of the festival site. That equates to a total of 27,000km travelled by e-bikes, pedal bikes and scooters.
In addition, 1,077 parking fines were issued over the four days.
Residents also praised the cleanliness of the beaches throughout the festival.
Approximately 60-65 tonnes of waste/litter was removed from the Air Festival site, which included waste from the triple sized bins, beaches, and associated waste from traders.
Traders too benefitted from the influx of business, with around 26,000 ice creams being sold to visitors.
Councillor Beverley Dunlop, portfolio holder for tourism, culture and vibrant places at BCP Council, said: “As a leading tourist destination, we are used to seeing large numbers of visitors and our seasonal response plan meant we and our partners were fully prepared, as we are every year for the hundreds of thousands of visitors who flock to our seafront for the Air Festival, with effective teams to keep the beaches clean, control the crowds, clean the loos and tackle those who park irresponsibly.
“Everyone pulled together to provide a safe, welcoming, free and family-friendly four-day Platinum Jubilee Bournemouth Air Festival which saw in excess of 600,000 visitors who contribute millions to our local economy, supporting thousands of jobs.”
Jon Weaver, Bournemouth Air Festival director, added: “Putting together a festival of this magnitude also requires a huge amount of partnership working and my immense thanks go to everyone who been involved in this year’s festival.
“From the emergency services to the armed forces and RNLI, as well as hospitality partners and traders who all have given 100 per cent to make sure we had a successful festival.”
Provisional dates for next year’s event will be the August 31 to September 3, 2023.
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