Tourism is worth £162million to the Cheltenham economy, figures released by the borough council have revealed.

The newly-released figures show that the tourism economy is booming in the so-called Festival Town, with an increases in both daytime and overnight visitors in the past year.

Visit Cheltenham commissioned independent research by The South West Research Company and the council say that the figures show "the borough's visitor economy continues to thrive.

Day visitors grew seven per cent to 1.9million in the last year - the equivalent of more than 5,200 per day - while the number of overnight visits was up by six per cent to 1.1million.

With a successful appeal to the international market, Cheltenham also saw a 14 per cent increase on the number of nights spent in the town by overseas visitors.

A further survey by independent research commercial specialists Avison Young showed that Cheltenham was also bucking the trend of retail closures.

Continued investment in the town meant that the percentage of vacant retail units stood at just eight per cent in the town, lower than the national average of 12 per cent.

Tracey Crews, director at Cheltenham Borough Council continued: "It's great news that more and more people are choosing to visit Cheltenham.

"The ambition of the council, Marketing Cheltenham and its partners are beginning to pay-off.

"We're proud of our vibrant festival offer, the award winning evening economy, parks and green spaces and range of retail offer that presents both national and independent retailers.

''The retail sector though has its challenges both nationally and locally, however understanding the unique characteristics of a place and creating an authentic experience for the people who want to visit it are key to good destination management.

"Local authorities are at the heart of this with place-support, working together will continue to be critical to ensure our tourism economy thrives."

Since forming in 2017 as a division of Cheltenham Borough Council, Marketing Cheltenham has led the town's destination marketing strategy under the banner of Visit Cheltenham.

Marketing Cheltenham also works in close partnership with Cheltenham BID, helping to deliver some of the town's major events.

David Jackson, Marketing Cheltenham manager, said: "These figures buck the national trend and are a testament to the huge appeal of Cheltenham and the significant contribution made by all partners to Cheltenham's offer to benefit the wider economy.

"The challenge in the future will be to maintain momentum but I'm confident that by continuing to work with partners and by innovating and adapting to the changing retail market, visitor numbers will flourish."

Ian George, festivals director at Cheltenham Festivals, added, "It's really encouraging to see that the number of people visiting Cheltenham is increasing, which certainly chimes with our own figures here at Cheltenham Festivals.

"In 2019 we welcomed more than 235,000 people for our Jazz, Science, Music and Literature Festivals.

"This year's Times and Sunday Times Literature Festival was the biggest and most visited in its 70 year history and we saw an increasing proportion of visitors coming to Cheltenham from outside of the region."