A new free online software tool is being launched to provide tourism businesses with access to a vast range of data from many different sources showing sector and visitor trends.

The South West Visitor Economy Hub continuously collects data and presents it using pictures and graphics. Unlike one-off surveys, aggregated and up-to-date information enables sector and visitor trends to be constantly tracked, and the changes understood.

The hub's aim is to help businesses and organisations in the tourism sector understand:

• Who visits Devon and Somerset

• How many visitors travel here

• What they think about the area

• Why people aren’t visiting and what their perceptions are

• What the economic impact of tourism is

• What the future holds

• The impact of digital marketing

• How your business is performing against your peers

• What impacts business performance, for better and worse

Easy to use, businesses can log in from a desktop computer or smart device and see how the sector is changing, both locally and further afield, in real time. The data hub also equips sector and support organisations with better, more comprehensive information so that they can make better decisions about marketing, planning, policy making and investing in the tourism sector for the future.

For the data in the system to be truly robust and give a complete picture, every business needs to play their part by providing basic information about themselves and updating it on a regular basis. No-one else can see this data, but when combined with all the other intelligence in the system, each user will be able to understand so much more, including being able to compare their performance with sector peers.

The South West Visitor Economy Hub is the product of extensive consultation with tourism businesses and organisations in the region, as well as Devon & Plymouth Chamber of Commerce, Somerset Chamber of Commerce, Devon’s Top Attractions and PASC.

Created specifically for tourism businesses and organisations, it is the first product of its kind bringing much needed real time data and insight to all.

For more information and to see the system in action, click on the link to watch the introductory webinar and follow the instructions to sign-up SWVEHub Webinar or visit the website www.swvehub.co.uk