WINDERMERE Lake Cruises is one of a handful of companies nationwide chosen to attend a special event in Venice tomorrow (Jan 19), to mark the official start of the EU-China 2018 Tourism Year.

Partnerships in European Tourism (PET) is a European Union initiative aimed at supporting tourism businesses and operators across Europe, who want to expand further and faster into the Chinese and US markets.

With 1.6 million passenger journeys annually, the company is officially one of England’s top ten most popular ‘paid for’ visitor attractions and went through a rigorous application process to be selected to help represent UK business.

The company is spearheading China as one of its primary international markets over the coming year and needed to demonstrate what it is doing to appeal to Chinese visitors.

Jennifer Cormack, Sales and Marketing Director, who will be attending the event in Venice, said: “This is a prestigious event and it is an honour not only to be representing the Lake District but also Northern England and the country as a whole.

"The recent World Heritage accolade is a great talking point for overseas markets and we want to make the most of this opportunity to show potential Chinese visitors that we should be the destination of choice above other countries.”

Jennifer Cormack is also Chair of the Lake District China Forum, a special collaboration of ten local businesses set up to promote the Lakes to potential Chinese visitors.