THE Lake District and Cumbria looks on course for another record year in 2014 but whisper it because the season isn’t over yet. With 16 million annual visitors bringing £2.2 billion into the county every year, has tourism weathered the recession? 

IAN Stephens, 55, is approaching his 10th year as head of Cumbria Tourism.

He took the reins in April 2005, replacing Chris Collier, who left after eight-and-a-half years.

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She had taken a job with Cumbria Vision, having impressed many by steering the industry through the stormy waters of foot-and-mouth.

More than 40 people applied for her old job back then and Ian, then its deputy chief executive and head of marketing, made the six-strong shortlist with his background in marketing in London.

In the 10 years that have followed, Ian has faced his own challenges – the bird ‘flu scare, the Credit Crunch, the recession, the 2009 floods and a major restructure of the organisation he represents.

Four years ago, the Northwest Regional Development Agency, which gave the tourist board £1 million a year every year to fund campaigns promoting the area, was scrapped by the incoming Conservative-Lib Dem coalition, who were keen to crush Labour’s quangos and reduce government spending.

As Ian explains: “We went from being 90 per cent funded by the public sector back then, to today where it’s 95 per cent funded by the private sector. 

“We went from 50 staff down to 20 people – we lost 30 staff – which was a massive hit.

“For me, getting through that to where we are now is the greatest, most satisfying achievement of my life to be honest. 

“It was turbulent and it was difficult. To keep it together and to keep the confidence of the tourism industry so that they are still investing in us.

“They could have walked away and it’s not all personal achievement – it’s the achievement of the staff, the board and some key individuals in the industry, who made sure that we were on the right tracks and stayed there and kept going.”

The tourist board now brings in nearly £1m in commercial revenue and last year the amount spent by tourists rose eight per cent after a succession of soggy summers. 

Tourism’s ‘worth’ to Cumbria has also doubled to £2.2bn since 2000, says the research.

Softly-spoken with a lilting Welsh accent, Ian is originally from Carmathenshire, but lives not far from the company’s Staveley offices.

He says consumer confidence is growing but he is not convinced that consumer spending has followed. “The problem is that families or households are not quite yet able to spend confidently,” he says.

“We have definitely seen holidays and taking time out remaining a high priority in any modern household – people are not going to abandon their holidays or short breaks – so in that regard, we are in a very resilient industry.

“That’s reassuring for the industry and reassuring for bodies like us who have got a job to do to get the message out there.”

City breaks – along with the regeneration of places like Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds and Newcastle – have created more competition for visitors, he says.

“Those cities, as an example, have being transformed and are building up their economies using tourism and city breaks as a key platform,” says Ian.

“Over the same time we have also seen the growth of low-cost carriers, your Easyjets and Ryanairs, Eastern bloc countries opening the tourism gate, global travel becoming much easier and cheaper, China opening its doors, India becoming the wealthiest nation on earth probably, South America opening up – altogether it’s a fantastic boom in travel and tourism.

“So yes, we are in a globally-competitive market place now. 

“I say it glibly at meetings sometimes but I’m serious! 

“We need to keep our share of that otherwise we will lose out to other areas.

“Cumbria is not lagging behind necessarily, it’s still got a fantastic, profound and diverse visitor offer but it needs to continue to improve and invest to keep pace.”