New data shows the value of the visitor economy in Cheshire and Warrington grew 1.4% to £4.4bn in 2025 – slower than in the neighbouring Liverpool city region and Greater Manchester. Tony McDonough reports

Cheshire and Warrington’s visitor economy is continuing to grow – albeit at a much slower pace to its neighbours.

Latest STEAM (widely used UK tourism measure) figures shows the sector grew by 1.4% in 2025 to £4.4bn. Liverpool city region achieved 7.8% growth to just shy of £7bn while Greater Manchester saw 6.4% growth to £12.7bn.

There was growth in every borough including Cheshire West and Chester, Cheshire East and Warrington. Overnight stays also increased, with 3.8m staying visitors choosing Cheshire and Warrington in 2025 – around 20,000 more than in 2024.

New additions to the region’s visitor offer in 2025 included the arrival of Lapland UK at Capesthorne Hall, attracting 170,000 guests over seven weeks, the opening of The Reserve Hotel and new Heart of Africa at Chester Zoo following a £50m investment.

Chester Zoo welcomed 2.14m people through its gates in 2025, its highest ever figure, generating record revenues of £70.5m.

These results come against a challenging backdrop of rising costs for businesses and continued pressure on consumer spending. They also follow an exceptionally strong 2024, when visitor numbers grew by between 4.7% and 8.2% across the region.

While total visits fell slightly to 53.1 million, the data points to a clear shift towards visitors staying longer and spending more.

This higher-value tourism delivers the greatest benefit to local businesses, from hotels and restaurants to attractions and independent retailers. The sector continues to support more than 37,700 jobs across the sub-region.

Cheshire West and Chester delivered the strongest performance in the region. The value of its visitor economy rose by 2% to £2.5bn, while staying visitors grew by 1.8% to 1.7 million. The borough welcomed 29.8m visits in 2025 and tourism supports more than 21,500 jobs.

Cheshire East’s visitor economy grew to £1.13bn, with staying visitors up 1.4% to 1.5 million. The borough welcomed 13.8m visits and tourism supports almost 10,000 jobs.

Warrington’s visitor economy held firm at £719m, edging ahead of 2024. The town welcomed 9.5m visits and 611,000 staying visitors, with tourism supporting 6,200 jobs.

Jamie Christon, chair of Marketing Cheshire and chief executive of Chester Zoo, said: “These figures show a visitor economy that is resilient and growing in value.

“In a year when many households were watching every penny, more people chose to stay overnight in Cheshire and Warrington, and visitors spent more while they were here. That is a real vote of confidence in the quality of what our region offers.

“Growth in overnight stays matters, because staying visitors spend more across our hotels, restaurants, attractions and high streets.”