ACCOMMODATION providers in Cumbria experienced a strong Autumn, according to figures released by Cumbria Tourism.

Provisional figures from the tourism body's research team revealed record occupancy levels of 79.4 per cent in September - the highest for a decade.

In October serviced accommodation room occupancy at 68.3 per cent was as strong as 2015, which was the highest recorded for several years, and self-catering occupancy hit 66.9 per cent - the highest recorded in October.

The news is a positive boost for the organisation’s winter marketing campaign that has been designed to generate bookings and raise awareness of what is on in Cumbria over the traditionally quieter months.

As the county’s official destination marketing organisation, Cumbria Tourism represents more than 2,500 members and carries out the monthly Cumbria Tourism Occupancy Surveys to monitor performance across hotels, guesthouses, B&Bs, self-catering, and camping and caravan sites.

Ian Stephens, managing director of Cumbria Tourism, said: “These figures are a welcome boost for the county’s £2.62 billion tourism industry as we approach the traditional quieter months of the year. It was a challenging start to 2016, but the industry has worked hard to welcome visitors to the area and together, we have shown just how resilient Cumbria is.

"The strong occupancy figures over the past six months suggest we certainly have good reason to be cautiously optimistic about the performance of our tourism industry going into 2017. That said, anecdotal feedback from attractions and retailers suggests a more mixed experience, so we will be watching this closely and collecting further data over the coming months to evaluate how well different types of tourism businesses have been doing.”

Cumbria Tourism's Occupancy Surveys provide a vital source of information on the health of the tourism economy. Any tourism business can participate in the survey and instantly access benchmarking data to compare performance against each other.

For more information contact research manager Helen Tate: htate@cumbriatourism.org