Love them or hate them, tourists have had a major impact on Kent’s economy, according to a new survey.

According to the latest figures, tourism is worth £3.2 billion a year to Kent, and supports 63,000 jobs.

The figure has been revealed in a survey by Visit Kent, which claims that £228.4m was spent in Maidstone on leisure, tourism and hospitality.

The industry supports 5,004 jobs in the County Town.

According to the survey, about 413,000 overnight trips were made to Maidstone during the year – 349,000 by domestic visitors from other parts of the UK and 64,000 by overseas visitors.

Thirty nine per cent of domestic visitors stayed in hotels, bed and breakfast or self-catering accommodation in the borough, as did 52 per cent of overseas visitors.

The County town also attracted 3.3 million day trips, up nine per cent compared with the last recorded figures in 2006.

Day trip expenditure increased by ten per cent rising from £100.5 million in 2006 to £110.7 million in 2009.

Sandra Matthews-Marsh, chief executive at Visit Kent, which promotes the county to tourists across the UK and abroad, described the countywide results as “tremendous”.

She added: “Together we are punching far, far above our weight.

“I am confident that when the next survey is done, based on data collected in 2012, the results will be even more impressive.”

The full survey is available at www.visitkentbusiness.co.uk