01 April 2008
Go West – tourism chiefs tip Wastwater
as overseas hit
Cumbria’s west coast is set
to become a major hit for overseas visitors this year due to the
success of Britain’s Favourite View.
The Western Lake District Tourism Partnership
are already reporting increased interest from international markets
due to worldwide publicity for Wastwater and Wasdale.
The area won a prime time ITV television
competition in the autumn to find the best view in Britain and news
of the win and the image is spreading abroad to places like America
and India.
Cumbria Tourism has featured the view in major
marketing campaigns promoting the area in this country and many
other agencies and businesses are using the iconic image to sell
the Lake District.
Cumbria Tourism says the award also precisely
fits what international visitors want to do on a trip to Cumbria. A
new survey showed 82 per cent of international visitors want to
visit the countryside and 69 per cent want to sight-see – which is
bound to make Britain’s Favourite View a must do on their
itineraries.
Fiona Tubman, of the Western Lake
District Tourism Partnership – a tourism group dedicated
to helping promote tourism in West Cumbria – is already seeing
growing interest in the area with international tour operators keen
to get their overseas passengers including a view on their
itineraries.
Ms Tubman, a marketing specialist who has just
returned from a major trade exhibition showcasing Britain to the
overseas, said it could spell benefits for the whole of the West
Coast as they visit the view and then explore the wider area.
“We are now seeing a growing number of Indian
and American tour companies enquiring about the Western Lake
District, its history and what the whole area has to offer.
“At the recent British Trade and Travel Fair
in Birmingham, we gained a number of contacts from operators
looking to send large group tours to the UK from places such as
Bangalore, India, and Hong Kong. Their main interests focused very
heavily on the accolade of Britain's Favourite View and the
landscape of mountains, lakes and coast.”
Richard Greenwood, Director of
Development for Cumbria Tourism, said: “International
visitors are hugely important to Cumbria because they stay and
spend for longer which in turn helps support the county’s
economy.
“Traditionally, overseas audiences have
gravitated to the central Lakes so we are delighted to introduce
them to another side of Cumbria which will encourage them to visit
and discover more about the West Coast. We could also see more
domestic visitors in this area during 2008.”
Peter Mearns, Executive Director of
Marketing at the Northwest Regional Development Agency
(NWDA), added: “England’s Northwest has rich assets which
make it an excellent place to live, work and visit, and Cumbria’s
outstanding landscape is an icon of the region. It’s great to
see these qualities being recognised internationally, encouraging
more people to discover this wonderfully diverse region.”
Cumbria Tourism recently surveyed over 300
visitors during a year-long survey to find out what they think of
Cumbria. It found that the average length of stay was over four
days, 71 per cent stayed in a guesthouse, B&B, hotel or a pub.
46 per cent arrive at Heathrow Airport, 70 per cent said the value
for money in Cumbria was good or very good and a quarter decide on
Cumbria when they arrive in England.
The Britain’s Favourite View television
programme involved Coronation Street’s Sally Whittaker championing
the area against several other leading destinations and then
winning a major public vote.
Cumbria Tourism also plans to survey tourism
businesses throughout 2008 to see what effect the television award
win has had.
-Ends-
1: For more information, please contact
Cumbria Tourism on 015398 22222.
2: For interviews with Fiona Tubman of the
Western Lake District Tourism Partnership, please call 01900 818987
or for information about the http://www.western-lakedistrict.co.uk/