Winchester is enjoying a boom in tourism with four-and-a-half million visitors coming to England's historic capital each year.

The industry now brings in more than £171m to the Winchester sistrict and supports almost 3,700 jobs.

But underlying threats like a continuing decline in lucrative overseas visitors staying overnight have prompted a warning that more must be done if Winchester is to hold its place as Britain's fifth most visited city.

The warning comes in a strategic plan by Winchester City Council, which sets out the authority's vision of tourism until 2008 and looks at ways of tackling the challenges facing the region.

One of the biggest of these challenges will be to stem the ever-decreasing number of British visitors taking overnight trips to the city, with statistics in the report revealing a drop of more than 50 per cent between 2000 and 2002.

The number of people coming to the city from overseas has also fallen, down 23 per cent in the same period. Other challenges include public transport and the impact of tourism on the environment.

However, while some visitor categories have fallen, the number of day trippers and foreign visitors coming for just one night are both up and overall spending has increased by £30m during the two-year period figures are available for.

But the report goes on to suggest more could be done to increase the numbers further and to make the industry more profitable by using methods like better marketing and partnerships between service providers.

In particular it points to the city's success as a short-break destination for people with more cash than time and recommends improving the information passed to these visitors to ensure they get the most out of their time and businesses get the most out of them.

The strategy, which was being presented to the council's cabinet today for approval before publication, has been put together by tourism bosses at the council and identifies targets for the future. These include increasing visitor spending in the district by £17m by the end of 2007, and getting more people to stay overnight in the region.

Eloise Appleby, the author of the report and the head of tourism, added: "The fall off in domestic staying trips is a continuing issue across the country and is part of a wider trend of people going abroad more often."

TOURISM ISSUES THE COUNCIL CLAIM NEED TACKLING:

The decline in overnight visits, especially from overseas.

New forms of promotion and marketing, particularly e-marketing, needed in an overcrowded market.

The decline in visitor numbers to the cathedral.

The need for an additional budget-style hotel in or near the city.

The need for campsite facilities nearer the city.

A need for more evening entertainment across the wider Winchester district.

More partnerships between Winchester and the surrounding rural villages and towns to provide better support for effective local tourism initiatives.

More communication between service providers and the authorities.

FACTFILE:

Tourism brings around £171m into the Winchester district each year and supports nearly 3,700 jobs.

4.1m people came on day trips to the city last year, with another 355,000 coming for overnight stays.

Tourism ensures thatmany attractions, from Marwell Zoo to the Watercress Line and from restaurants to events like the Hat Fair, are able to keep running.

The city's tourism service gets more than 220,000 enquiries every year.

Across the UK, tourism is the sixth largest industry, bringing in some £76 billion, supporting more than 2m jobs and employing over seven per cent of the workforce.