29 April 2008
65 things to do during May in Cumbria
Cumbria Tourism has come up with 65 fun-packed ideas for how to
best enjoy the forthcoming bank holiday weekends in the county.
This year for the first time ever, the organisation has linked
up with 65 top tourist attractions in the county to produce a
pocket-sized ‘Best of Lakeland Attractions’ guide featuring some of
the best things to do.
Over 375,000 copies will be distributed to tourist information
centres around Cumbria, Lancashire, Yorkshire and the North East,
as well as other visitor routes such as service stations, hotels
and B&Bs.
A total of 55,000 foreign language copies have been produced for
the Spanish, German, French, Chinese and Japanese overseas visitor
markets.
The county will also be promoted in the heart of London at the
biggest tourist information centre in the country - The Britain and
London Visitor Centre - which receives over half a million visitors
wanting to find information about what to see and do.
It is the first time Cumbria Tourism has produced the guide
after taking over the role from South Lakeland District Council
this year.
Sheona Southern, Cumbria Tourism Marketing Director, said: “We
are really pleased with the new-look Best of Lakeland guide and
it’s a great way to find out what you can do in Cumbria over the
forthcoming holiday weekends.”
“It is a fantastic pocket-sized guide to show the wide range of
tourist attractions we have here and encourages people to get out
and about and spread business around the county.”
The guide lists the very best Exciting Days out and online
viewers should go to http://www.golakes.co.uk/do/attractions/
Some of the attractions featured include Go Ape High Wire Forest
Adventure in Grizedale Forest, the Lakeside and Haverthwaite
Railway, The Dock Museum in Barrow, Dove Cottage in Grasmere, Cars
of the Stars in Keswick, Maryport’s Coastal Aquarium, the Abbot
Hall Art Gallery in Kendal, Hutton in the Forest near Wigton,
Tullie House in Carlisle, Wordsworth House in Cockermouth and The
Beacon in Whitehaven.
One of the attractions featured – the Lakeland Motor Museum,
explained the practical benefits of the guide to tourist
attractions. The museum is located in the grounds of Holker Hall
and features a life-size replica of Donald Campbell’s Bluebird
along with classic cars, motorbikes and automobilia.
Edwin Maher, the museum’s general manager, said: “We are based
at Holker Hall as part of a much larger tourism business and lots
of people don’t realise we are here so this type of marketing is
vital to a museum like ours as we simply could not reach this range
of potential visitors on our own.”
Peter Mearns, Executive Director of Marketing at the Northwest
Regional Development Agency (NWDA) which supports Cumbria Tourism,
said: “The Lake District is a flagship destination within the
Northwest and this excellent pocket-guide will help to raise the
profile of the region both nationally and internationally. Cumbria
has a strong tourism product and collaborative marketing such as
this can help to grow the visitor economy even further.”
The leaflet also includes handy tourist information centre
numbers, public transport details and how people can donate to a
major footpath renewal scheme – the Fix The Fells campaign - run by
the Tourism and Conservation Partnership.
Business featured are as far apart as Alston, Barrow, Carlisle,
Cockermouth, Kendal, Keswick, Maryport, Penrith and Ulverston.
-Ends-
Notes to editors:
1: For more information, contact Cumbria Tourism on 015398
22222.
2: To find out more about the work of Cumbria Tourism, go
to
www.cumbriatourism.org
3: Cumbria Tourism is supported by the Northwest Regional
Development Agency (NWDA). The NWDA leads the economic development
and regeneration of England's Northwest and is responsible for:
Supporting business growth and encouraging investment; Matching
skills provision to employer needs; Creating the conditions for
economic growth; Connecting the region through effective transport
and communication infrastructure; Promoting the region’s
outstanding quality of life.
4: To book accommodation in Cumbria – the Lake District, please
call our
Accommodation Booking Line on 0845 450 1199 or go to www.golakes.co.uk