Bournemouth's reported a 27 percent increase in the number of shoppers visiting the town last year.
 
The positive news comes as several of the UK's big retailers post disappointing Christmas sales.

Tesco says it suffered a 2-point-3 per cent decline in sales - compared with 2010 - and other stores have also reported difficult festive trading - including Homebase, Argos, Mothercare and Thorntons.