News: Tourism continues to boost Rotherham's economy by half a billion pounds a year
In Rotherham, visitor numbers are up, more people are staying within the area, and the economic impact is huge, with over £500m generated directly and indirectly by the tourism sector in 2025, reports Visit Rotherham.
Rotherham is ahead of Barnsley in terms of total tourism visits, economic impact and jobs supported.
Visit Rotherham has looked at new data, commissioned via the South Yorkshire Local Visitor Economy Partnership and processed by Global Tourism Solution’s STEAM Report, which shows that increases have continued each year on the back of high profile events and investment in family friendly attractions.
A total of £539m was generated directly and indirectly within the local Rotherham economy through visitor and tourism business expenditure in 2025, with the economic impact 5.8% up on the £509m recorded in the previous year.
The stats showed that there were 5.4 million tourism visits to Rotherham in 2025, up by 0.7%, and that visitor activity and spend supports more than 4,492 full time equivalent jobs in the borough.
Over half a million visits (593,000) were made by visitors staying within Rotherham as part of a holiday or short break, up 0.9% on the previous year and generating 1.4 million nights in local accommodation.
STEAM data for South Yorkshire 2025:
A highlight for 2025 was Rotherham hosting the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Flower Show when over 60,000 visitors attended Wentworth Woodhouse for the world-famous gardening event.
As the world’s first Children’s Capital of Culture in 2025, Rotherham has been redefining how creativity, civic purpose and collaboration can be shaped by children and young people. With events across the borough including music, sports and cultural events animating Rotherham town centre, organisers said they had achieved 83,743 "active participations" in activities during the 2025 festival year.
2025 also saw continued success at Gulliver’s Valley with the family theme park bringing attractions such as the “Land of Lights” to Rotherham for the first time.
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In the town centre, and continuing the move towards more leisure uses following the opening of Arc Cinema on Forge Island, 2025 saw the re-opening of the Empire Theatre after a £1.8m restoration.
At Clifton Park, one of Yorkshire’s best free days out, the revamped water splash opened in 2025 and now welcomes over 30,000 people in the summer seasons enjoying the new paddling pool and splash pads.
Like the rest of South Yorkshire, Rotherham does well to attract visitors for a day out - the data shows that 4.8 million tourism visits were made by day visitors in 2025 (up 0.6% on 2024). Day visitors make up a huge 89% of total visitors to the area.
In Rotherham, day visitors enjoy the award-winning Clifton Park, and the unique events space and hands-on exhibits at the Magna Science Adventure Centre. Sports fans come for football, rugby and boxing, and less mainstream sports events such as the Open Water National Championships held at Rother Valley Country Park.
Tom Austen, founder of Visit Rotherham, said: “The report makes for fantastic reading and shows that Rotherham continues to be a place that people want to visit and invest in.
“We still need to shout more about what we've got here. Other destinations would love to have attractions like Magna, Wentworth Woodhouse, Gulliver’s Valley and Grimm & Co. And 70% of Rotherham is open countryside with picturesque villages and country parks created from former coalfields and industrial areas.
“That's why I set up Visit Rotherham at visitrotherham.com - to tell people about what Rotherham has to offer, the new venues and attractions opening, the busy events calendar, and the best places to go.
“A lot of it is about changing Rotherham’s image and people’s perceptions. Rotherham, and South Yorkshire, is a great place for people who like a good value family day out, want to learn about our heritage, like to get outdoors, or enjoy the theatre, live music and a decent pint.
“The website also helps local people find out all of the amazing things that are happening in their hometown that they can get involved with and be proud of.”
Looking ahead, further investment in tourism in Rotherham is planned. At Wentworth Woodhouse, a unique holiday let is being created in the Grade-I listed mansion, and the RHS is set to return in 2028.
A new £10m tram-train stop at Magna is enabling operators to host more music events, and at Manvers, plans are moving ahead for a £14m project to create a whitewater course.
And from nearly 400 bids, Rotherham has been shortlisted to become the UK's first Town of Culture in 2027.
Visit Rotherham website
Images: Gulliver's Valley / WWPT
Rotherham is ahead of Barnsley in terms of total tourism visits, economic impact and jobs supported.
Visit Rotherham has looked at new data, commissioned via the South Yorkshire Local Visitor Economy Partnership and processed by Global Tourism Solution’s STEAM Report, which shows that increases have continued each year on the back of high profile events and investment in family friendly attractions.
A total of £539m was generated directly and indirectly within the local Rotherham economy through visitor and tourism business expenditure in 2025, with the economic impact 5.8% up on the £509m recorded in the previous year.
The stats showed that there were 5.4 million tourism visits to Rotherham in 2025, up by 0.7%, and that visitor activity and spend supports more than 4,492 full time equivalent jobs in the borough.
Over half a million visits (593,000) were made by visitors staying within Rotherham as part of a holiday or short break, up 0.9% on the previous year and generating 1.4 million nights in local accommodation.
STEAM data for South Yorkshire 2025:
| Tourism Visits | Visitors Staying | Economic Impact | Jobs Supported | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sheffield | 18.7 million | 1.9 million | £2.0 billion | 16,203 |
| Doncaster | 10.17 million | 873,000 | £1.05 billion | 8,612 |
| Rotherham | 5.4 million | 593,000 | £539 million | 4,492 |
| Barnsley | 4.09 million | 600,000 | £431 million | 3,593 |
| S. Yorksire | 38.3 million | 3.9 million | £4.0 billion | 32,788 |
A highlight for 2025 was Rotherham hosting the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Flower Show when over 60,000 visitors attended Wentworth Woodhouse for the world-famous gardening event.
As the world’s first Children’s Capital of Culture in 2025, Rotherham has been redefining how creativity, civic purpose and collaboration can be shaped by children and young people. With events across the borough including music, sports and cultural events animating Rotherham town centre, organisers said they had achieved 83,743 "active participations" in activities during the 2025 festival year.
2025 also saw continued success at Gulliver’s Valley with the family theme park bringing attractions such as the “Land of Lights” to Rotherham for the first time.
Advertisement
In the town centre, and continuing the move towards more leisure uses following the opening of Arc Cinema on Forge Island, 2025 saw the re-opening of the Empire Theatre after a £1.8m restoration.
At Clifton Park, one of Yorkshire’s best free days out, the revamped water splash opened in 2025 and now welcomes over 30,000 people in the summer seasons enjoying the new paddling pool and splash pads.
Like the rest of South Yorkshire, Rotherham does well to attract visitors for a day out - the data shows that 4.8 million tourism visits were made by day visitors in 2025 (up 0.6% on 2024). Day visitors make up a huge 89% of total visitors to the area.
In Rotherham, day visitors enjoy the award-winning Clifton Park, and the unique events space and hands-on exhibits at the Magna Science Adventure Centre. Sports fans come for football, rugby and boxing, and less mainstream sports events such as the Open Water National Championships held at Rother Valley Country Park.
“We still need to shout more about what we've got here. Other destinations would love to have attractions like Magna, Wentworth Woodhouse, Gulliver’s Valley and Grimm & Co. And 70% of Rotherham is open countryside with picturesque villages and country parks created from former coalfields and industrial areas.
“That's why I set up Visit Rotherham at visitrotherham.com - to tell people about what Rotherham has to offer, the new venues and attractions opening, the busy events calendar, and the best places to go.
“A lot of it is about changing Rotherham’s image and people’s perceptions. Rotherham, and South Yorkshire, is a great place for people who like a good value family day out, want to learn about our heritage, like to get outdoors, or enjoy the theatre, live music and a decent pint.
“The website also helps local people find out all of the amazing things that are happening in their hometown that they can get involved with and be proud of.”
Looking ahead, further investment in tourism in Rotherham is planned. At Wentworth Woodhouse, a unique holiday let is being created in the Grade-I listed mansion, and the RHS is set to return in 2028.
A new £10m tram-train stop at Magna is enabling operators to host more music events, and at Manvers, plans are moving ahead for a £14m project to create a whitewater course.
And from nearly 400 bids, Rotherham has been shortlisted to become the UK's first Town of Culture in 2027.
Visit Rotherham website
Images: Gulliver's Valley / WWPT
22 comments:
Great news and a cue for Rotherham knockers to put in their five pennyworth of negativity. Over to you Highrise Harry, Henry Hooter, and Barnsley Burke.
Be interesting to know how much of that money is in town centre, area most of us are bothered about. Not much, that's a guarantee!
I think you need counseling
Excellent news to see the Rotherham tourism sector go from strength to strength
Great news, now Coppard will hit the sector with the Tourist tax, how dare they be successful!
As said above, bet virtually none of income was generated in town centre
Probably includes money from Gulivers, Wentworth and Magna, who all try to distance themselves from being associated with Rotherham.
So they've moved Clifton Park, the Arc Cinema, Grimm & Co, the Minster, the Civic Theatre and the Empire out of town then?
You are a bell.
How do Gulliver's Valley, Magna and Wentworth Woodhouse distance themselves from being associated with Rotherham? All 3 prominently mention Rotherham throughout their marketing and proactively participate k. and support in local events.
Garbage.Wentworth Woodhouse in particular has always stressed that it is a Rotherham based attraction. Do you ever actually explore facts before posting drivel?
Try reading the article before spouting.
And do you suppose for one minute that Doncaster's figures don't include the Racecourse and the wildlife park?
Last time I looked they weren't in the town centre.
Moronic post
You are falling into the trap of basing your opinions on facts and research.That doesn't suit the narrative of the lazy oafs who constantly knock our town.
And to add to the first reply, the second piece of garbage in the initial comment is Magna always advertise themselves as a Rotherham venue, it's the events that look after their own advertising that list it as a Sheffield venue. Try getting your facts right before embarrassing yourself!
Not much of those millions will be in clifton park or a bl***y tiny cinema and 2 eateries!
How is an 8 screen cinema tiny? Additionally Arc Cinemas have commented several times in the press how the Rotherham Cinema has exceeded their expectations and is one of their most profitable sites so your opinion is not very factual.
Genuine question:
Why does a blog dedicated to bringing news of businesses operating in Rotherham manage to attract so many individuals who live in but hate the town, and express their views in barely literate terms and with no relation to facts, common sense or decency?
Good question. I can only guess that they are Barnsleyites.
Sad, but that's just the way it is. We also attract positive comments and encouragement for those who genuinely have the town's best interests at heart. Just ignore the usual suspects and hopefully they will go away.
That would account for the literacy issue
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