TOURISM businesses in the Exeter area have not felt the anticipated boost from the economic downturn, a report has suggested.

It was widely predicted that one silver lining of the recession would be more British people opting to holiday at home, while the weak pound was expected to prompt more overseas visitors to come here.

But according to Richard Ball, head of economy and tourism at Exeter City Council, that benefit has not materialised.

In a progress report on the exeter visitor and tourism strategy, he said: "Initially, the economic downturn was predicted to have a positive effect on the domestic tourism market, but this has been slow to develop, especially within regional cities.

"There is still widespread concern about the economic downturn as most visitors have altered their spending patterns."

This view was shared by Bruce Harvey, sales manager at the Buckerell Lodge Hotel in Topsham Road, who said: "There's been a slight increase in numbers but nothing like what was anticipated, and all it's really done was to displace what we would have got from people coming from abroad.

"But what we have found is they are paying less and spending less when they are down here. In Exeter we have been quite fortunate in that the numbers coming into the city have held up but the amount they are spending is significantly less.

"We were expecting more overseas visitors but if anything they have dropped slightly."

The current strategy aims to increase the amount spent by visitors in Exeter by 15 per cent between 2007 and 2010, but whether this target is met will not be known until this autumn, when the results of a biennial study are released.

Between 2005 and 2007, total tourism spend in the city increased by 3.7 per cent. Tourism was estimated to be worth £165.5m a year to the Exeter economy, supporting more than 4,000 jobs in hotels, attractions, cultural venues, restaurants and transport.

Reviewing the progress being made on developing Exeter as a visitor destination, Mr Ball points out that hits on the Exeter & Essential Devon tourism website have increased by 426 per cent since the strategy was launched. The number of people attending a Red Coat guided tour was up 29 per cent between 2005 and last year, while visitors to the underground passages increased by 19 per cent.

The Exeter & Essential Devon Tourism Partnership has also engaged in a range of promotional activity.