Visitors to the Broads increased by 4.2pc last year to 7.4 million with a 2pc increase in spending and jobs in the tourism sector.

The 2011 figures released by STEAM (Scarborough Tourism Economic Activity Monitor), the leading model for calculating the volume and value of tourism, show that visitors spent �469 million compared to �437 million in 2010. Jobs dependent on tourism rose to from 6,236 to 6,367. There were 7.1 million visitors in 2010.

Bruce Hanson, the Broads Authority's tourism officer, said that the tourism figures had shown a steady rise year on year.

'Tourism in the Broads has held up well in an extremely difficult economic climate and we should be very proud of this result,' he said.

'This is a tribute to the extremely hard work of many people in the Broads holiday industry who have pulled together and paid particular attention to the need to continually improve the quality of the Broads tourism offer. Broads businesses, working closely with the Broads Authority, have resulted in everyone becoming a winner - the businesses, the environment and the visitors.'

Mr Hanson strongly believes tourism drives the economy of the Broads and that this success will have a knock-on effect to the wider community.

'The challenge is to maintain this momentum,' he said. 'Broads Tourism, the organisation representing Broads businesses, is committed to this agenda and I am confident it will continue to ensure the prosperity of the region.'

Barbara Greasley, chairman of Broads Tourism, said: 'I have been extremely encouraged by the findings of the STEAM report. Over the last few years Broads businesses have really identified the need to maintain and improve the quality of our tourism offer.

'This has resulted in a great deal of investment being made by individual businesses. These results show that all the investment and hard work has been worthwhile.'

STEAM is funded by STEP (Sustainable Tourism in Estuary Parks) which is part of the Two Seas Interreg Project financed by the European Development Fund.