CUMBRIA Tourism reflected on what has been a 'quite eventful' year at its annual general meeting.

Members of the board spoke about the organisation's successful campaigns over the past 12 months and considered the struggles tourism has faced in the aftermath of the floods.

Describing the year as being 'quite eventful,' Cumbria Tourism managing director Ian Stephens said: "This year the annual general meeting was a particularly important event for Cumbria Tourism not only to reflect on how the industry has performed over the past year but also to discuss plans and priorities for the future.

"There is no doubt that recent months have been very difficult, but the determination and resilience of tourism businesses in Cumbria has been impressive even in the most challenging of circumstances."

During the meeting, members of the board talked about the success of the See More Cumbria project, which is a sustainable transport programme that aims to transform the quality of transfer and travel from gateways into Cumbria.

The Herdwick Project was also on the agenda, which Mr Stephens said was 'doing some good work in getting Herdwick meat used in London restaurants'.

Despite the success of this work and other international projects, many tourism businesses have struggled in the wake of Storm Desmond.

"The recovery has been good," Mr Stephens said. "Business had been struggling up until the A591 was opened but that's been a major step. Since it reopened businesses have been doing quite well."

At the meeting, it was announced that Mike Turner, director of Treetop Trek Ltd, is to be appointed chairman of the Commercial Members Committee (CMC) for the forthcoming year. Philip Johnston, owner of Coppermines and Lakes Cottages, Coniston, will take up the role as vice chairman of the CMC.