THE good weather and the credit crunch have combined to make this Easter break a bumper one for Dorset, say tourism chiefs.

The South West enjoyed the best of the sunshine with temperatures reaching up to 17C compared with just 9C on the opposite side of the country.

A spokesperson for Bournemouth Tourism said that around 35,000 people were expected to have visited Bournemouth on Bank Holiday Monday.

And up to 90 per cent of hotels were booked up over the Easter break with many visitors pre-booking this year, she said.

"Some are saying their pre-bookings are up on last year. It may be that people want to holiday in the UK because of the credit crunch.

"The figures say that 14 million UK holidaymakers are spending Easter in the UK rather than abroad so Bournemouth may be benefiting from that.

"And water sports centres at Sandbanks and Baiter Park have been really busy," she added.

Charlotte Brown, of the Oceanarium at Bournemouth, said it had been "a good Easter weekend".

"We've had a lot of visitors down and seen a lot of day-trippers," she said.

Sharon Foster, of Wimborne Tourist Information Centre, said on Saturday around 521 people came through the office doors with tourism inquiries.

Rob Gray, spokesperson for Kingston Lacy, said their Easter trail had proved very popular.

"We had about 500 children coming on Sunday and altogether over the whole of Easter weekend probably about 2,000 visitors up compared to last year not taking into account Monday's numbers," he said.

Graham Richardson, tourism manager for Poole, said: "It's been a busy Easter. Most places and attractions have reported brisk business. Poole Quay has been busy.

"We are hoping the good weather keeps for the rest of the holidays.

"Compared to last Easter it's much better. Last Easter was a wash out."

Christchurch Tourist Information office said the extended market, which began on Bank Holiday Monday, had attracted a lot of visitors.

Paul Beecroft, of Highcliffe Castle, said its Easter trail had been 30 per cent more popular than last year.

"The Easter trail over the weekend has been extremely popular. It exceeded all expectations.

"The weather has been kind to us over the weekend although not brilliant," he added.