RAINY weather may have put a dampener on Easter festivities but that did not stop visitors flocking to Bournemouth and Poole over the Bank Holiday weekend.

Despite the rain on Monday many people were out and about in Bournemouth town centre and at the seafront, although the ice cream kiosks and other refreshment outlets were noticeably quiet.

Steve Court from Bournemouth Tourism said it had been a quieter weekend than last year, when blazing sunshine had brought thousands of people to the resort’s sandy shores.

“Classic Cars on the Prom did well, as did the Beer Festival at the BIC”, he said.

“The hotels were reasonably full but some still had availability.

“People have done well but it has not been exceptional.”

Becky Knight, welcome centre manager at Poole Tourism said: “We’ve been busy apart from Monday.

“The whole weekend has been busy with people visiting the Quay.

“There were still quite a few people around on Monday but they chose to go somewhere dry to escape the rain.

“I think visitor numbers have been around the same as last year, especially the beginning part.

“Lots of people have been asking about day trips to the Channel Islands and there have been lots of Easter activities on as well.”

And Andrew Woodland, chairman of Bournemouth Area Hospitality Association (BAHA) said: “Saturday night was good – a lot of people filled up.

“The smaller hotels found it difficult to get any more than one-night stays though.

“Larger hotels along the East Cliff seemed to have done well.

“But it is looking better than last year.

“A lot of people are coming down for Ken Dodd. Other than Easter there are other things in town attracting them.

“Next week is not looking great at the moment. The weather was putting people off coming for a holiday.”

Mr Woodland said he believed the shorter stays were due to issues including petrol, the weather and financial situations.

He added: “When we had the good weather in March, the clientele coming down for three or four nights were older.

“People are tending to come down early on Saturday morning and then going back later on Sunday afternoon and only having one night.”