East Suffolk Council has launched a new project to support and promote the heritage and museums sector, with a view to driving footfall and elevating the visitor experience to places of interest in our district.

Our Vision is to celebrate creativity and heritage in East Suffolk’s distinctive and diverse places in terms of collections, its buildings, stories and culture.

To achieve this, we will engage with representatives from across this complex and varied sector to understand what support is required and to ensure three important outcomes:

• Collections and heritage assets are cared for and protected.
• Visitors to our district know where to find places of interest and they enjoy an outstanding experience when they visit, so they will come again and tell others.
• We grow visitor numbers and recognise the important contribution this sector makes to the local economy, particularly in our towns and rural areas.

The Visitor Economy is a key part of a thriving, sustainable economy and we are working to align our rich heritage with local skills, business growth and pace-making priorities.

Data shows that 2.61 million visits to East Suffolk are attributable to culture, representing a solid 26% of tourism in the district. Furthermore, cultural tourists have a higher average spend. We would like to grow that number.

In addition, 31% of residents visit a museum or heritage site a year. We want to grow that number too.