TOURISM is bringing an increasing amount of money to the district, as people splash out more during their visits, new figures show.

The industry is now worth an estimated £567 million a year to the district's economy and much of this cash is spent with local attractions and businesses, a council report says.

But it is the amount each visitor spends, rather than the number of visitors, which seems to be on the rise.

A council scrutiny committee will meet next week to discuss the latest figures which relate to 2014.

Councillor Susan Hinchcliffe, whose portfolio at Bradford Council includes tourism, said: "We do really well when you compare us to the rest of the region and nationally.

"We have a high number of repeat visitors which shows that once people visit the district, they are impressed enough to come back for more.

"What's also interesting I think is the increase in spend for day visitors - day visitor spend in Bradford has increased whereas in the region and nationally it's gone down.

"Inevitably the Tour de Yorkshire and the publicity it gave the district will have helped but I'd also say that part of the reason for increase may be because there's still a lot to do in Bradford for families which is free.

"You can visit any of our museums, the National Media Museum and our fantastic rural landscape for free, leaving you more disposable income to spend in local businesses."

Cllr Hinchcliffe said the authority was now keen to get more people to take short breaks in the district, as well as developing the VisitBradford website.

Some of the district's biggest attractions have also found that their takings are on the rise, even though visitor numbers have remained static.

At Haworth's Bronte Parsonage Museum, data for 2015 is expected to show the number of visitors remained at just under 70,000 visitors a year.

But marketing officer Rebecca Yorke said takings were up by two per cent and sales in the gift shop were also up.

She said: "Perhaps people are planning and choosing their visits carefully."

And she said the museum was looking forward to a busy 2016, with celebrations planned for the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charlotte Bronte.

The Keighley and Worth Valley Railway has seen visitor numbers for 2015 slightly drop compared with the year before, but the amount these visitors spent increased by five per cent.

The steam railway attracted just under 100,000 visitors in 2015.

Marketing officer Sarah Howsen said this year, they were keen to build on their visitor offer with new children's and food events.

She said: "It's going to be an exciting year."

But Bradford's National Media Museum is bucking the trend, with an extra 10,000 visitors in 2015, compared with the year before.

A total of 440,000 people visited the free museum last year.

Director Jo Quinton-Tulloch said: "We are obviously very happy that visitor numbers have increased in the past 12 months, demonstrating that the hard work we’ve put in to our exhibitions, learning activities and cinema programme is contributing to a positive outlook for tourism in Bradford."