Since history conjured up the phrase 'sent to Coventry' - meaning to ignore or ostracise - the West Midlands city has harboured something of an image problem. 

Heavily bombed in the Second World War, and then rebuilt with a rather more utilitarian look, it's no surprise that tourism - much like the city's 2026 Premier League campaign - hasn't yet flourished. 

It doesn't help that Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwick and Leamington Spa are also all competing for a slice of the Midlands tourism pie. 

However, according to the latest set of visitor figures, things could be looking up for Coventry, after it recorded a 6.5% spike in tourists in 2025. 

And for the first time in its history, the city, which was once home to the second-largest motor industry in the world, could see more than a £1billion generated from visitor spending this year. 

The stats come from the STEAM (Scarborough Tourism Economic Activity Monitor) model, which measures the economic impact of tourism. 

What's behind the boost? Tourism authority Destination Coventry puts the 12.6million annual visitor figures down to several factors. 

While Coventry City have yet to win a match in the Premier League, winning the Sky Bet Championship, under the management of Frank Lampard, in April is thought to have brought thousands more visitors to the city. 

The stadium where the team play, the CBS Arena, has also hosted a raft of stars in recent years, from Bob Dylan to Ed Sheeran. 

Speaking to BBC News about the city's growing status as a British destination people want to holiday in, Pete Chambers, director of the Coventry Music Museum, said visitors were coming from far and wide.  

He said: 'We get people from all over the world. We've had people from, I think, 103 different countries.

'Nearly 60,000 people [have visited the museum] and a lot of those are from Australia, America, New Zealand and Africa. I just think it's going to get better and better.'

According to the tourism figures reported, 33% of money spent by visitors was on food and drink, with 29% on shopping, and recreation accounting for 11%. 

One of the most visited areas of the city is Coventry Cathedral, which marries 14th century ruins with a Modernist rebuild. 

St Michael's Cathedral was first built around 1300 but much of it was razed to the ground during the Blitz, with just a partial shell and its Gothic tower remaining. Visitors can climb the 180 steps for stirring 360-degree views of the city.  

The new place of worship, designed by Sir Basil Spence and finished in 1962, is symbolically joined with the old sandstone walls of the older cathedral. 

In the 1960s and 1970s, Coventry was home to the world's second largest car-making industry. Known as Motor City, firms such as Jaguar, Chrysler and Peugeot had production hubs there.

Britain's first production car was made in Coventry by Daimler all the way back in 1897. Other famous car firms, including Standard Triumph, Alvis, Rootes, Hillman and Morris were all based in the city.

The car industry went into decline partly as a result of rising competition from the US and Europe and the ill-fated decision to merge some of the city's biggest names to form British Leyland, which collapsed in 1975 before being rescued by the state.