Eden's inaugural tourism summit hailed a huge success (From The Westmorland Gazette)

Eden's inaugural tourism summit hailed a huge success

5:41pm Tuesday 30th October 2012 in News

EDEN’s inaugural tourism summit was hailed a huge success with more than 70 delegates from local businesses attending.

The event was organised by Eden District Council’s Tourism Team and the Eden Tourism Network after calls from businesses for a chance to network and hear the latest news and forecasts from key industry figures.

Tourism generates £225.5 million a year for Eden’s economy; it supports 3,589 full-time equivalent jobs and attracts 4.3 million visitors.

Held at the new sculpture gallery at Lowther Castle, guest speakers included David Edwards, head of research and forecasting for Visit Britain, Ian Stephens, managing director of Cumbria, and Zoe Dawes, named Britain’s Best Travel Blogger in 2011.

Jim Walker, chairman of Eden Tourism Network and chief executive of Ullswater Steamers, said: “The summit was a real success. The audience was made up of participants from all sectors of Eden’s tourism industry, who heard experts in attraction management; international research, sustainable transport and digital marketing, come up with lots of good ideas for business development and improved profitability.

“Initial feedback from the event has been really positive and we will be meeting shortly to identify other ways to best support the needs of the industry in Eden.”

Eden District Council’s planning and economy portfolio holder, Coun Malcolm Smith said: “It was incredibly encouraging to have so many representatives from across Eden’s Tourism businesses.

“The value of tourism to Eden’s economy is exceptional and the summit highlighted that through continued partnership between the public and private sector, and how it can be further developed even through these tough economic times.”