DAY trips to Brighton and Hove are booming – but overnight stays have declined, according to an official report.

The number of day visits to the city was up by 500,000 to 10 million in 2014 compared to the previous year.

But the number of overall stays dropped by 72,000, with a fall in domestic overnight visitors.

On sunny days Brighton beach is often pictured in the national press packed with visitors.

But the figures would suggest many are day-trippers, while the ‘staycation’ phenomenon is on the decline.

The figures were contained in a Tourism South East report into the economic impact of tourism in Brighton and Hove, commissioned by Brighton and Hove City Council.

Jeremy Ogden, chairman of the Brighton and Hove Hotels Association, said: “The concern is that although people are staying longer, less people are staying in 2014 compared to 2013.

"The clear message is day trips are up but staying trips are down."

Approximately 10 million day trips were made in 2014 generating an additional £355 million in expenditure.

Total expenditure by visitors to the city was estimated at £873.3 million in 2014 – up 5.1 per cent.

Turnover increased to £1.2 billion when including indirect and induced effects.

The sector supported 15,902 full time jobs and 21,682 actual jobs where seasonal and part-time jobs are counted separately.

With occupancy levels falling, Mr Ogden called for support from the council for the sector.

He added: “We are keen to remind the council when considering planning applications or changes of use that there is already sufficient bed stock in the city and more comes on line on an almost daily basis with holiday lets and rooms on airbnb.

“We are not objecting to competition but want a level playing field and an understanding of the supply and demand.

“The continuing fall in occupancy and the rise in available rooms means in our view that the Council must not grant any further hotel planning approvals lightly.”

Howard Barden, Brighton & Hove’s head of tourism and venues, said: “Although there has been a slight decrease of 6 per cent on domestic overnight visitors, it is still lower than the overall trend of a 9 per cent decrease for the south east region as a whole and 8 per cent nationally.

“More importantly the city is continuing to punch above its weight on visitor numbers, with overseas overnight visitors up by 6.5 per cent (much higher than the south east and national increase ). The figures also suggest these visitors are spending more, with staying visitor spend up by nearly 5 per cent on 2013.”