GOVERNMENT must listen to the voice of Cumbria when it comes to Brexit, the newly appointed leader of Cumbria Tourism has said.

Speaking to the Gazette, Gill Haigh, who is just days away from taking up her role as managing director of the organisation, said that Brexit was 'absolutely critical' for the county.

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"Brexit and the impact of Brexit and potentially in terms of being able to employ workers from the EU is absolutely critical," Mrs Haigh, who has a 25 year career as a marketing and communications professional, said. "The visitor economy for Cumbria is worth £2.72billion, 36,000 jobs that are full time equivalent. I think they estimate that's over 60,000 in terms of part time work and part time is really important to the sector.

"I think more than most areas the visitor economy for Cumbria is more important to the overall economy so it's really important the government listen to the voice of Cumbria and Cumbria tourism.

"I know that Jim Walker who is standing in as managing director at the minute is already making some of those representations and certainly myself and the board will be standing behind that."

Mr Walker has discussed the issue with Lord Ashton of Hyde, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State and the Department of Digital Culture Media and Sport representative in the House of Lords.

And research is being undertaken with Cumbria Tourism’s 2,500 business members to identify the scale of this issue, to provide evidence and support further lobbying.

Mrs Haigh will begin in her new role next week. Although Mr Walker has been working as interim managing director, the mantle has been passed on to Mrs Haigh from Ian Stephens, who became chief executive of Cumbria Tourism in 2005.

"I have such a respect and regard for Ian in terms of the steadfastness of the way he ran the organisation and he's such a respected figure in the sector so I'd like to thank Ian for the strong position and strong starting point that he has given me," she said.

Mrs Haigh, who lives near Kirkby Lonsdale, will be leaving her role as director of Marketing and Recruitment at the University of Cumbria for the job.

Previous work includes heading up destination marketing and tourism services for Lancaster City Council and time as the North West public relations manager for the National Farmers’ Union.

As she prepares for the new role, Mrs Haigh spoke about the importance she will be placing on listening to Cumbria Tourism's members so that she could effectively 'lead and influence on their behalf'.

And World Heritage status, she said, was 'fantastic' but the county was still 'in competition with a lot of other destinations'.

"So we still have to work hard to ensure that we get visitors to Cumbria who are perhaps going to stay longer," she said.

"I don't think it's necessarily about having more and more people but it's about attracting new audiences to come here to stay longer and to spend more."

And she thought that World Heritage status would also encourage people to visit those parts of the 'diverse' county that may sometimes be forgotten about.

"I think actually World Heritage status is a fantastic draw," she said. "If you look at the Cumbria Tourism website we have 19 million views to that website and it tells people about all the different places there are to go and see and explore and enjoy right across Cumbria.

"Our members are right across Cumbria so that's how we work together to attract people to Cumbria in the first place and also to share with them and encourage them to enjoy and explore all that Cumbria has to offer."