Making the most of visitors to West Wirral

Checked against official sources in November 2026. Rules and schemes change, so follow the links before you act.

West Wirral draws visitors all year: walkers heading for Hilbre, families on the beach, sailors and paddleboarders on the marine lake, and golfers who come for Hoylake's championship history. For local businesses, that is a steady flow of potential customers who are already here and often looking for somewhere to eat, shop or stay.

This guide looks at what brings people to the area and some practical ways to make more of it.

What brings visitors to West Wirral

The coast is the main draw. Hilbre Islands Local Nature Reserve, managed by Wirral Council with the Friends of Hilbre, is reached on foot from Dee Lane in West Kirby, the only recommended safe crossing. The walk over wet sand and rocks takes about 45 minutes to an hour each way and depends on the tides. There is no café on the island, so people often stock up before they set off and want somewhere warm when they get back.

West Kirby Marine Lake is home to the Wirral Watersports Centre, which has offered dinghy sailing, windsurfing, wing foiling, paddleboarding, kayaking and open water swimming. In June 2026 the council moved to appoint Coastal WK Ltd to run the centre under a concession. The council keeps ownership of the site and the lake, and the centre stays an RYA training centre focused on watersports. No start date for the new operator had been announced when we checked.

Visit Wirral, the council-owned tourism website, is where many visitors plan their trip, so it is worth knowing what it says about your area.

Golf and The Open

Royal Liverpool in Hoylake has hosted The Open many times. The most recent, the 151st Open in July 2023, drew 261,180 spectators and generated more than £187 million in economic benefit for Wirral and the Liverpool City Region, according to a study for The R&A by Sheffield Hallam University. The LCR Destination Partnership puts direct visitor spending at about £43m of that.

In July 2026 the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, Wirral Council and Sefton Council signed a memorandum of understanding with The R&A to host The Open at least three times by 2050, along with other R&A championships. No year has been named for Royal Liverpool yet. No major championship is confirmed there for 2027: the 2027 Open is at St Andrews and 2028 at Royal Lytham & St Annes.

Golf still brings visitors between championships. If golfers are among your customers, think about early opening, golf-friendly offers or simply making sure you appear when they search for somewhere nearby.

We will update this page when The R&A confirms a date for the next Open at Hoylake.

Planning for the seasons

Footfall in coastal towns rises and falls with the weather, school holidays and the tides. A few habits help smooth it out.

• Keep a simple record of your busy and quiet days, and note the weather and any events. Patterns appear within a year.
• Staff up for sunny weekends and school holidays, and use quiet weeks for training, maintenance and marketing.
• Extend hours in summer evenings if visitors are still around after the beach.
• Build a winter offer for local regulars: loyalty cards, events, or a cosy reason to visit.
• Use your Google Business Profile to post seasonal hours and offers so visitors find accurate information.

Ideas for cafés and food businesses

• Offer takeaway food and flasks for people walking to Hilbre, and promote it near the route from Dee Lane.
• Display the day's tide times in your window or on a board. It is genuinely useful and brings people in.
• Make walkers, families and dog owners welcome, with somewhere to leave muddy boots or a water bowl outside.
• Stock simple, portable options for watersports visitors on the marine lake.
• Remind people of safety: Hilbre visitors should check tide times and the Friends of Hilbre website before crossing, as the RNLI regularly rescues people cut off by the tide.

Ideas for shops and service businesses

Visitors are not only a market for cafés. Gift shops, galleries, bike and outdoor shops, hairdressers and even trades can benefit.

• Stock local products and gifts that remind people of the coast, the islands or the golf.
• Team up with a nearby café for a joint offer, or keep each other's leaflets by the till.
• Offer services visitors need: bike repairs, dog grooming after the beach, phone charging, left-luggage for shopping.
• Make sure your opening hours online are right, especially on Sundays and bank holidays.
• Get listed where visitors look, including Visit Wirral and local directories. Our guide to getting found online covers this.

Holding your own visitor events

A late-night shopping evening, a seasonal market or a food festival can bring both visitors and locals into town. Plan well ahead: outdoor events open to the public need notice to Wirral Council, and street events need a permit. Our guide to planning a business event on Wirral explains the rules. Working with neighbouring businesses makes events cheaper and more effective; see our networking guide for ideas.

Common questions

Sources

• Hilbre Island - Visit Wirral
• Hilbre Islands Local Nature Reserve - Wirral Council
• Wirral View - Wirral Watersports Centre
• Plans to secure long-term future of Watersports Centre move forward - Wirral View
• The 151st Open generates £187million in economic benefit for Liverpool City Region - The R&A
• Memorandum of Understanding to tee up golden era of golf in Wirral - Wirral View
• Future British Open Championship sites through 2030 - The Golf News Net