Economy of Weston-Super-Mare

and the town now supports light industries and distribution depots, including Lidl's distribution centre for its southern based stores, and is also a dormitory town for Bristol. Vutrix, one of the largest semiconductor and video/audio distribution equipment companies in the television broadcasting industry, is based in the town. Two of the town's largest employers are the local council and Weston College, which has recently begun to offer university degrees as a secondary campus of Bath Spa University.

Tourism

Weston-super-Mare is still a popular tourist destination, with attractions such as the long sandy beach, the Helicopter Museum, Weston-super-Mare Museum, the Grand Pier, the SeaQuarium aquarium and the seasonal Wheel of Weston. In 2009 a survey by Visit England placed the pier at Weston amongst the top ten free attractions in the country. On the Beach Lawns was a miniature railway operated by steam and diesel locomotives, which closed in 2012. The Paddle Steamer Waverley and MV Balmoral offer day trips from Knightstone Island to various destinations along the Bristol Channel and Severn estuary.

The Art Deco Tropicana, once a very popular lido on the beach, has suffered years of neglect. It closed to the public in 2000, and despite a number of attempts to reopen it, its future lies in the balance.

'International HeliDays', in association with the Helicopter Museum, are staged at the beach lawns over a long weekend around the end of July, when up to 75 helicopters from Europe fly in for a static display. There are frequent Helicopter Air Experience flights from the Museum heliport. There is also an annual display by the Red Arrows.

Since the 1970s the number of