| The Isle of Wight is an Island off the southern | | | | visits. To show how many British people visited the |
| English coast, just south of Hampshire, between the | | | | Island, only 150,000 of the visitors were international. |
| English Channel and Solent. Isle of Wight Holidays | | | | Between 1993 and 2000, visits have increased by |
| have been popular since Victorian times, as the Island | | | | 3% each year on average. |
| is known for its natural beauty and home to the | | | | At the turn of the nineteenth century the Island had |
| Royal Yacht Squadron at Cowes. | | | | ten pleasure piers including two at Ryde and a "chain |
| The Isle of Wight has a rich history that includes a lot | | | | pier" at Seaview. The Victoria Pier in Cowes |
| of maritime history with boat building and sail making, | | | | succeeded the earlier Royal Pier but was itself |
| space history with launches of Black arrow and Black | | | | removed in 1960. The piers at Ryde, Seaview, |
| Knight space rockets. Events such as the Bestival are | | | | Sandown, Shanklin and Ventnor originally served a |
| held on the Islands, and the world famous Isle of | | | | coastal steamer service that operated from |
| Wight festival has been recently revived. As well as | | | | Southsea on the mainland. The piers at Seaview, |
| all this, the Isle of Wight is one of the best locations | | | | Shanklin, Ventnor and Alum Bay were all destroyed |
| to find dinosaur fossils in Europe. | | | | by storms during the last century. Today only the |
| The heritage and history of the Island is a major | | | | railway pier at Ryde and the piers at Sandown, |
| asset which has kept the economy of the island | | | | Totland Bay and Yarmouth survive. They also have |
| going for many years. Isle of Wight Holidays tend to | | | | Blackgang Chine, which is believed to be the oldest |
| focus on the natural heritage of the Island, including | | | | theme park in the UK, if not the world. |
| both wildlife and geology which is an alternative to | | | | As well as more traditional tourist attractions, the |
| the typical traditional seaside resort holiday. Due to | | | | Island is often host to walking holidays or cycling |
| the increased affordability of air travel to far away | | | | holidays through the attractive scenery. Almost |
| destinations, seaside resort holidays in the UK have | | | | every town and village on the Island plays host to |
| been on a steady decline. | | | | IOW hotels, hostels and camping sites. Out of the |
| Tourism is the largest industry on the Island, in 1999 | | | | peak summer season, the Island is still an important |
| the 130,000 residents were hosts to the 2.7 million | | | | destination for coach tours from other parts of the |
| visitors. Out of these, 1.5 million stayed overnight in | | | | United Kingdom and an annual walking festival has |
| Isle of Wight hotels and other Isle of Wight | | | | attracted considerable interest. |
| accommodation, and the other 1.2 million were day | | | | |