English Tourism Week returns in 2025 from Friday 14th March to Sunday 23rd March.
This annual event highlights the diverse, exciting and vibrant tourism sector, celebrating the quality and value of tourist attractions around the country.
Tourism is one of England’s largest and most valuable industries, so this campaign aims to raise awareness among key stakeholders of the huge contribution the English tourism sector makes to the UK economy. As confirmed by the Colchester City Council, in Colchester alone, tourism contributed £390 million to the local economy in 2023 and the sector support 7,200 jobs, equating to 9% of all employment in the city area.
CZS welcomed over one million visitors in 2024 and was ranked as the 10th most visited paid attraction in England by Visit England in 2023. We have also been recognised in Tripadvisor’s Travellers’ Choice Awards for the last couple of years. The award honours businesses that consistently earn great reviews, placing them among the top 10% of listings around the world on Tripadvisor.
For the last 60 years, CZS, was known as a privately owned Zoo called Colchester Zoo. Since 2004, the Zoo had a charitable arm, which provided much needed funds to conservation projects around the world, including the UmPhafa Nature Reserve in South Africa. On 1st February 2025, the charity took over the running of the Zoo and we began our new chapter as a charitable trust known as Colchester Zoological Society (CZS).
Each and every visit made to CZS contributes to not only the tourist industry and the continuous development of the Zoo, but also to vital conservation projects worldwide. Whether you have made a purchase of admission tickets, adoptions, experiences, annual passes or by simply donating through the Zoo’s website, without your support, we wouldn’t be able to help care for wildlife and wild places.
