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One of England’s top tourist attractions is taking a key role in encouraging more international travellers to visit the Lake District, Cumbria.
Windermere Lake Cruises, which latest figures show has strengthened its position as one of England’s Top Ten most visited “paid for” attractions, is part of a delegation of Cumbrian businesses heading to the United States this week.
They are taking part in the Destination Britain North America 2023 travel trade event in San Francisco to promote Cumbria to key international markets. That visit will be followed by similar trips to both India and China
“These international markets are increasingly important to Cumbria and the Lake District’s visitor economy,” says Jennifer Cormack, Sales and Marketing Director at Windermere Lake Cruises who is travelling with the delegation.
“Before the global pandemic, nearly five and a half million North Americans visited the UK in 2019 and many of them view Cumbria as a ‘must see’. Covid reduced the number of international visitors and although there’s been a steady increase since then we need to build on that momentum.”
Latest figures just released show Windermere Lake Cruises has maintained its high ranking in the top ten list of ‘paid for’ visitor attractions in England. The new figures, from the Annual Visitor Attractions Survey collated by VisitEngland, show it was the 4th most visited “paid for” attraction in the country in 2022 having attracted 1,303,609 visitors in 2022.
For the international trip Windermere Lake Cruises is joining forces with other businesses including Cumbria Tourism, English Lakes Hotels, Lake District Country Hotels, Lakeside & Haverthwaite Railway, Mountain Goat Tours, Muncaster Castle and The World of Beatrix Potter™ Attraction.
The US visit, organised by VisitBritain, will enable businesses to meet key travel organisers from across the US and Canada in San Francisco (7-10 September) and promote Cumbria to key international markets.
The US trade mission will be followed up in November with a similar visit to India – ‘Destination Britain India’ and China – ‘Destination Britain China’.
The importance to the visitor economy of international visitors is illustrated by research from Cumbria Tourism which shows international visitors usually spend 55% more per person per day than domestic visitors.
