Watch out Manchester, Liverpool and Leeds; the Lake District wants you! (From The Westmorland Gazette)

Watch out Manchester, Liverpool and Leeds; the Lake District wants you!

10:50am Friday 22nd February 2013 in News By Ellis Butcher, Reporter

GIANT posters of the Lake District and Cumbria are going up at train stations in Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, Sheffield and Newcastle to get more heads on beds for the upcoming tourism season.

The new promotional push aims to influence train passengers into making spring and early summer bookings to local B&Bs, guesthouses, hotels, holiday cottages and self-catering units.

Running over this month and next, it is the second phase of a major Lake District and Cumbria promotion being run by Cumbria Tourism, in a project headed by national tourist authority, VisitEngland.

It has been part funded by the government’s regional growth fund.

Other locations for the posters include Wigan, Bradford, York, Sheffield and Gateshead.

The campaign has two slogans ‘Go - Share Great Moments’ and ‘Go - Take Your Breath Away.’ It will be backed with website and newsletter branding and social media.

Ian Stephens, managing director of Cumbria Tourism, said: "The Lake District, Cumbria is one of the UK's strongest and most recognised destination brands, yet with increased competition from domestic markets across the UK, it is now more important than ever for us to keep our offering fresh and firmly in the public eye.

He added: “Cumbria Tourism works closely with a large range of partners to grow the value of tourism to our area. There is the real potential to build on this campaign for the future and we will be constantly talking to potential partners to extend the campaign both in terms of content and coverage to show to as wide an audience as possible the full range of things that the, Cumbria, has to offer.’’

James Berresford, VisitEngland’s chief executive, said: “The money from the government’s regional growth fund is a huge boost for tourism in England. This campaign enables our public and private sector partners to work together to stimulate tourism and ultimately grow jobs throughout the country with particular emphasis on some local areas, of which the Lake District, Cumbria is one.”