Bernard Donoghue, chairman of British Tourism Week, recently said Sussex is well placed to benefit from millions of pounds of spending by extra visitors during the recession. British holidays can be cheaper and just as much fun as trips abroad.

John Carmichael, the marketing manager at VisitBrighton, believes Brighton and Hove is well placed to take advantage of the increased interest from people who want to holiday at home. Mr Carmichael said: “There’s an increased interest in people holidaying at home and 2009 could be the year to do so. And it’s certainly cheaper for visitors from the Euro zone to come across to the UK.”

The beach will attract many, but Mr Carmichael says there is so much more to the city and that Brighton is not marketed as a seaside resort.

Taking a quick look at the VisitBrighton website sees the organisation describing Brighton and Hove as one of the most vibrant, colourful and creative cities in Europe.

Cosmopolitan, compact, energetic, unique, fun, lively, historic, young, exotic and free-spirited, it’s a city like no other.

Mr Carmichael said: “We are absolutely blessed with having a great range of architecture, with Hove and Kemp Town acting as bookends, from Victorian through art deco to more modern styles, with two great dames of the seafront, The Metropole and Grand Hotel. They all work together.

“In the UK we don’t market ourselves as seaside resorts like Bournemouth and Torquay. Brighton and Hove has all the elements of a city break destination. We’re not a resort in the traditional sense but a 21st century place to have a holiday.”

University of Sussex professor Fred Gray is an expert in the history of seaside resorts, and he also believes Brighton and Hove is a great holiday destination. But Prof Gray said: “The Brighton Centre isn’t much to write home about. It could be anywhere and it doesn’t make much of its seaside location.”

Of the West Pier, Professor Gray said: “It is a romantic ruin. The two piers show two very different sides of Brighton. Tragic versus bouncy and vibrant.”

He also said seaside towns and cities like Blackpool and Brighton are successful because of their amusement park rides.

He said: “There’s a concept called safe danger. The very best rides are totally safe but we can be terrified. One part of seaside towns is all about safe danger.”

Bathing Despite Brighton and Hove not marketing itself as a seaside destination, there are still may towns across Sussex which do: Worthing, Littlehampton, Bognor and Hastings to name just a few.

But how did they develop? Seaside resorts date back only a few hundred years. Before they started, wealthy people would go to inland spas such as Bath to improve their health and to socialise.

Then, in 1736 the Reverend William Clarke and his wife adventured to a small town called Brighthelmstone, which became Brighton. They sunned themselves on the beach and bathed in the sea.

Prof Gray said they might have been drawing on a more popular sea-bathing tradition enjoyed by commoners.

He said back then, Brighthelmstone was a long-established coastal town, functioning as a trading, transportation and fishing centre. It lacked the seaside architecture that defines it as a place for health, leisure and pleasure.

In 1750 Dr Richard Russell said bathing in Brighton sea water could heal illnesses. Soon the gentry trickled down to the seaside, but still mainly to socialise. Unlike the Rev Clarke, they were tied to the social constraints of society.

Prof Gray said: “When people first came to the seaside in the 18th century they weren’t interested in sunbathing or sea air. They wanted to mix with other people.

“By the 19th century people still weren’t interested in the sunshine, but they were then interested in the sea and the sea air.

“Unlike today, swimming was thought of as unnatural, if not impossible.”

Prof Gray said those who did learn to swim engaged in a strenuous, almost desperate, froglike swimming style.

A gas which came off the sea, called ozone, was vigorously recommended for its health benefits. While seaside authorities and doctors promoted it, it was debated in respectable society. But Prof Gray said ozone’s benefits are more of a myth than reality.

In the 20th century, especially after the Second World War, the cult of the sun emerged. Doctors promoted the sun’s health benefits for treating tuberculosis and the naturist movement developed.

Today, campaigns such as SunSmart encourage people to cover up with hats and Tshirts, to wear sunglasses and sunscreen and to take special care of children in the sun.