Sunny summer days gave Kent’s tourism industry a welcome boost, with visitor numbers growing by nearly 10%.

Attractions welcomed 711,579 people in August compared with 650,784 in the same month last year, an increase of 9.3%.

It is the fifth consecutive month the number of visitors has grown year on year.

By the end of August, footfall in the year so far was up 4.6% compared with the same point in 2012, according to figures released by Visit Kent.

There was also growth in the number of people staying in self-catered accomodation, up 5.1%, and people staying in hotels, guest houses and B&Bs, up 14.6%.

Business tourism also recorded growth, up 13.6%.

The good weather and not having the Olympics have been listed as contriubuting factors to the positive figures.

However it was the attractions charging for entry which saw a boost in numbers, up 11.3%. Free attractions saw visitor numbers drop by 6.8%

Chatham's Historic Dockyard welcomed 13% more visitors during August than for the same month last year.

Communications manager Gail James said: “It has been a fantastic summer season and much better than anticipated.

“We had superb weather and a great temporary exhibition – Exploring Antartica.”

Self-catering cottage company Mulberry Cottages, based in Canterbury, saw a 40% increase in bookings during the summer.

It recorded 100% occupancy over the August Bank Holiday weekend.

Visit Kent chief executive Sandra Matthews-Marsh said: “It has been a tremendous summer.

“Our official figures to the end of June revealed a really good start to the season and more than 60% of our attractions were confident they would perform better than last year during the next three months.

“Their confidence seems to have been very well placed.”