The big attractions adding to Rotherham's tourism boom

Tourists spent a whopping £539m in Rotherham last year - up almost six per cent on the previous year, a real-world increase after inflation has been deducted.

That begs the question of just what Rotherham has to offer, that’s bringing in more people with money to spend?

Here at the Advertiser, we think the answer’s “quite a lot, actually”.

And while it would be unrealistic to pitch a town with an industrial past against tourist traps like York, we’ve compiled our own ‘magnificent seven’ which we think help Rotherham to punch above its weight.

It may come as no surprise that Wentworth Woodhouse ranks as the jewel in the tourism crown.

While the ‘big house’ has been there for centuries, it is really in the last decade that it’s become open to the public - in tandem with a huge restoration project to make sure the fragile stately home endures for many future generations.

That has been successful enough not only to bring in visitors, but also to attract bodies like the RHS, which staged a massively successful horticultural show in the grounds last year - and they are planning a return.

Gulliver’s Valley theme park has been luring visitors to Rotherham since it opened in 2020, the attraction is credited with bringing millions of people into the area, with a target audience of children aged two to 13.

On-site accommodation helps to keep visitors in the area, and that has to be a money-spinner for the Rotherham economy.

Clifton Park and museum needs no introduction to anyone who knows Rotherham, and makes this list for good reason - the park has the recently upgraded Watersplash facility, play areas and other attractions to keep visitors happy, while the museum offers a classic blend of exhibits and events.

While that might pull in a predominantly local audience, it is also home to the York and Lancaster Regimental Museum, which surely attracts longer-range visitors.

The park is also name-checked further down the list, so keep reading…..

The Magna Science Adventure Centre is housed in a former steelworks at Templeborough, offering an imaginative range of attractions and a reputation which have earned it a catalogue of awards in the two decades since it opened.

If a car park ever told a story of success, it is maybe Magna’s, which can take up to 400 cars and 40 coaches - meaning the potential’s there for dizzying numbers of visitors.

A Supertram stop has even been constructed - at a cost of £9m - outside to help visitors get to and from the attraction, as part of work to open up the wider area.

It may be a business, but Wentworth Garden Centre is also a thriving - and expanding - visitor attraction. Dating back to the 1970s, it takes up part of the grounds, and gardens, of the Wentworth Woodhouse estate.

Seemingly ever-expanding, it employs more than 200 people - a significant contribution to the economy - and those who remember the 1990s cafe might well be surprised by the range of eating options now on site.

Another planned expansion could see an ambitious new children’s playground created in the near future.

Rother Valley Country Park is a regeneration classic - created from a post-industrial wasteland in the 1980s with several artificial lakes providing a watersports venue.

But it offers much more, with routes for walkers, cyclists and wildlife enthusiasts, with a new cafe and pavilion building installed by Rotherham Council - a clear signal of the park’s importance to the town.

The sprawling site covers more than 700 acres and is not thought to bring in around a million visitors each year.

Everything on the list so far is based around ‘bricks and mortar’ attractions, setting The Reytons aside as more of an ‘entity’ - but one that shouldn’t be under-estimated.

Since the band formed in 2017, they have risen beyond cult-status to become well and truly established in the mainstream.

That puts Rotherham into the minds of a national - and international - audience who might otherwise have little to connect them to Rotherham.

The Reytons’ lyrics often namecheck Rotherham locations and while this year’s number one album, Love Letter To A Broken Town, might not be the sort of publicity Rotherham’s looking for, their power to ‘sell’ the town shouldn’t be under-estimated.

When the band played Clifton Park - this is where two of our list collide - the show had a capacity of 20,000 - numbers many full-blown festivals would want to emulate.

The tills of Rotherham businesses must have been jangling that weekend and we can only hope something similar happens again, and soon. Just don’t split up, lads, eh?

We’ve stuck at seven for our big names, but that’s at the exclusion of other worthy candidates.

Historical sites like Roche Abbey play their part, with Rotherham’s Chantry Brewery not only producing great beers, but running music events at the Cutlers Arms and the brewery tap, taking visitors into a more industrialised area of town.

Can the growth continue? It may be a few years away, but Rotherham getting a mainline railway station - with faster and more convenient links to big cities - can only help.

Tourism is an industry, and just like the stock-market, there has to be fallers as well as risers.

Wentfest music festival has been a high profile visitor attraction, first at Wentworth Woodhouse, then at Hooton Lodge, over many years.

But organisers announced the 2026 show was the last, another victim of well documented pressures affecting that sector. It was good while it lasted.

We’d love to sign off with a mention of all the big name football clubs visiting New York stadium, but that isn’t happening at the moment, sadly.

There’s always next season, and in a few years’ time, maybe big-spending football fans will be descending on Rotherham in large numbers? We can hope, on that one.