Hastings named one of the top 10 UK winter staycation hotspots to visit

The town was featured in Comparethemarket’s ‘Winter Family Staycation Index’, which highlights the UK’s best winter staycation spots – as searches for ‘winter holidays 2022’ have increased by more than 514 per cent in the past 12 months.

Hastings took the eighth spot on the index, placing ahead of Warwick, Cambridge and Winchester.

Each location was given a rating based on eight different factors, including: the average cost of a meal, accomodation and food facilities, number of entertainment and recreation opportunities per 1,000 people and average amount of green space within a 1km radius. The seaside town received a particuarly high score for its number of museums per 1,000 people.

John Bownas, manager of Love Hastings Ltd, said: "Hastings sits right in the middle of a stretch of the English coastline that is well known for having more sunshine than anywhere else in the UK - and that's all year round, so anyone looking for a spot of winter sun without traveling abroad need look no further.

"If the kids are in tow, then the newly opened Owen's entertainment centre will be a must-see attraction, as the whole family will be spoilt for choice as to what to do once inside.”

The only category where Hastings was particularly low was ‘number of Christmas markets’. However, there are still plenty of pop-up markets and craft fairs for people to get their Christmas market fix when visiting in December.

Kevin Boorman, marketing and major projects manager at 1066 Country Marketing, added: “There’s always lots of things to do in Hastings and 1066 Country whenever visitors come, so we are pleased, but not surprised, that we’ve made the top 10 staycation list.

“Tourism is vitally important to 1066 Country, pre-Covid it was worth over £700m across the area, and supported over 16,000 jobs.

"And it’s particularly important that we attract visitors in the winter, as this creates permanent, all year round jobs, in the visitor economy.”