THE growing number of tourists visiting Oxford should be given a better welcome, according to a traders’ leader.

According to the latest figures, roughly 16,000 tourists visit Oxford every day, equating to a massive 5.8 million per year.

Graham Jones, a member of traders’ group ROX - Promoting Oxford Business - said he was unhappy with the current arrangements in St Giles, where coach parties of visitors arrive.

Oxford Mail:

In May, the city and county councils launched a four-month trial to improve the way tourist coaches park up in the street.

A traffic warden is now based in St Giles between 10am and 6pm every day following concerns that some coaches were parking in dangerous and inappropriate places, including across cycle lanes.

Mr Jones said tourism in Oxford was booming, particularly during the summer season, when large numbers of language schools bring in students from across the globe.

The Brexit vote, and the decline in the pound since then, has made the UK a cheaper destination for overseas tourists, driving a boom in bargain hunters from Europe, the US and China.

Mr Jones added: “Tourists arrive on coaches in St Giles and are turfed out at the kerbside some distance away from shops selling drinks, or public conveniences.

“I think we need to look at ways we can be more accommodating - there are more hotels going up and more tour companies coming in but we need to ensure that the tourists have the best possible experience and increase, by all subtle means, the amount they spend when they are here.

“Once it is time for tour groups to leave, traffic wardens are urging the coach drivers to move on before all the passengers have returned.

“They are obviously just doing their job but in the long term we need a better transport solution for tourists and allowing some coaches to use Gloucester Green could be part of the answer.”

Mr Jones said he and fellow members of ROX would meet next week to discuss the issue and liaise with Experience Oxfordshire, the county’s tourism organisation.

Both the city council and county council have admitted the situation with coaches and parking is not perfect, and both are monitoring the situation over the summer. 

But St Giles and often Beaumount Street are full with coaches, with other motorists forced to neogtiate their way around them.

Coaches are supposed to proceed to one of the park-and-rides after drop-off, and the recently-installed warden is partially there to make sure they do.

About £831m was thought to have been driven into the city economy by visitors in 2016 – four per cent more than was generated the year before.

Experience Oxfordshire said the trend following the Brexit vote was for growth.

The opening of the £440m Westgate Centre should also be taken into account as there were nine million visitors in the first six months.