Welcome to the June edition of the Partnership’s Industry E-Newsletter.

Summer is fast approaching and the Partnership is as busy as ever!

Fiona and Lucy are due to start work on the 2008 editions of our print publications very shortly so look out for their letter with details on prices and new packages available.

The area also has a variety of Events coming up in the summer, details of which can be found on our new website. It’s great to see so much on offer for the tourists this summer in the Western Lake District.

Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate all Western Lake District businesses who triumphed in the Cumbria Tourism awards in May. It makes me very proud to see so many local businesses short listed and winning such awards.

Hope you all have a fantastic and very busy summer!

Denise Smalley

Chair - Western Lake District Tourism Partnership

Pete Waterman stokes Northern Rock's boiler

Matty Todd receiving his award from Cllr Malcolm Smith & Border TV's Tim Backshall

Solfest

2008 Publications Coming Soon

The Partnership has just appointed Cypher Digital with the role of designing its new print publications for 2008. Cypher beat off tough competition to be handed the job and will begin working on new designs in the next few weeks.

For those of you who advertise in the Holiday Guide or the Top Attractions leaflet, look out for your application form coming through the post very shortly.

If you would like more information please feel free to contact the marketing team on 01900 818741 or info@western-lakedistrict.co.uk

New PR agency appointed

Jane Hunt at Catapult PR has been appointed as the new Press Agency for the Partnership. Jane, along with Fiona Tubman the Partnership's Marketing Specialist will ensure that the Western Lake District gains various coverage both locally and nationally. If you require further information on PR for the Partnership or have something you would like to promote please contact Fiona on 01900 818987 or ftubman@western-lakedistrict.co.uk

The Partnership attends BTTF

Since the last e-newsletter, Marie Whitehead and Lucy Wilson from the Partnership attended the British Travel Trade Fair in Birmingham. The exhibition takes place over two days and was a great success. Many contacts were made within the Group Travel Industry, and the new Group Travel brochure was showcased along with the Holiday Guide and the Top Attractions leaflet.

Look who dropped in at the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway!

After a feverish period of landscaping, the two-year building programme at Dalegarth station and visitor centre came to a successful conclusion when pop-mogul and steam enthusiast, Pete Waterman officially opened the building recently.

A party of some 80-invited guests travelled in style from Ravenglass to Dalegarth on a special train hauled by the railway’s 30-year old locomotive, Northern Rock. On arrival at Dalegarth, Pete Waterman spoke of his passion for steam and the beauty of Eskdale, a place he hadn't visited previously. So impressed was he by Dalegarth and its surroundings that he guaranteed to spend more time in the Western Lake District in the future.

Dalegarth station and visitor centre is the most significant investment on the railway for over 50-years with a value in excess of £1/2 million. The directors of the railway, seven of whom were present at the opening, see Dalegarth’s opening as vitally important in sustaining the future, guaranteeing both full time and seasonal employment in the valley and providing better facilities for the attractions customer’s.

Dalegarth consists of two storeys, with the upper at platform level housing Fellbites, the eatery catering for all ages and appetites at affordable prices. The upper floor is also home to the Scafell Gift Shop, no ordinary railway gift shop, but an emporium of handbags and leather goods, china, and country clothing, as well as a wide range of children’s toys and design-led gifts. The lower level, which has direct access to the car-park is home to the Eskdale Room, a 100-seat meeting, dining, or conference centre, which is also used as an additional catering area on the railway’s busiest days. Currently the Eskdale Room houses an exhibition of Lakeland landscape photography, the work of David Briggs ARPS

For more information on Dalegarth please call 01229 717171 or log onto www.ravenglass-railway.co.uk

New Attraction has it's opening

A new attraction that has recently opened in the Western Lake District is Dunningwell Hall near Millom. The gardens are open for viewing and include 3 Victorian Ponds, statues and water features, woodland walks and much more. It is open Friday, Saturday, Sunday until October.

For more details please contact susan@dunningwellstatues.co.uk or log onto their website www.dunningwellstatues.co.uk

Western Lake District Businesses Triumph in Cumbria Tourism Awards

It was a great night for the Western Lake District at this years glittering Cumbria Tourism awards which were held in May.

The Rum Story celebrated by taking home two awards - Best Visitor Attraction and the Lady Inglewood rose bowl for excellence in tourism training.

New Restaurant McMenamins of Maryport also triumphed with the General Manager Matty Todd winning Best New Entrant to the Industry.

Other winners included Murthwaite Green Trekking Centre for Tourism Experience of the Year, Tina Chandler at Muncaster took the Customer Service Award and Nicola Conchie at Blackbeck Hotel won the unsung hero award.

Punch Taverns invests in new hotel for Maryport

West Lake Renaissance has awarded Punch Taverns a grant to restore landmark hotel, the Royal Victoria to its former glory.

The refurbishment will see the three upper floors restored creating eight en suite rooms. The rooms will have a nautical theme reflecting Maryport's maritime heritage.

Completion is anticipated for September 2007. For more information please contact Denise Smalley who is leading the project on 01900 811960

Events for the Summer in Western Lake District

Be sure to keep up to date with all that is going on in the Western Lake District this summer by checking out our Events Pages on the website.

There is plenty going on for your guests this summer including Van Morrison at the Blues Festival in Maryport, The Red Arrows at the Maritime Festival in Whitehaven, The Levellers at Solfest in Silloth and The Black Pearl from the Pirates of the Caribbean coming to Maryport.

Further details on all our fantastic events can be found on the Events Page. Please be sure to tell your guests and customers what is going on this summer in the Western Lake District.

If you have an Event coming up that you would like to promote please fill in the this Events Form and send it to jwalsh@cumbriatourism.org

Images from 2005 Maritime Festival

Sherrie works for Copeland Borough Council and sits on the Partnerships Steering Group. She is also heavily involved in organising The Whitehaven International Maritime Festival (15th-17th June)

Background

My paid job is as Regeneration Projects Officer at Copeland Borough Council. However my CV extends much further that that!

I was born and grew up in Whitehaven, have a passion for the place I live and work in.   I have been involved in tourism one way or another for all my working career, when tourism wasn’t a sexy industry I started to work at The Beacon, where I specialised in Marketing.  I worked at The Beacon for 5 years before moving on to manage Haig Colliery Mining Museum for three years. I then travelled around the world for 12 months before settling back in Whitehaven in 2004.

I became involved in events in 1999, organising one of the first tall ship visits to Whitehaven on behalf of Copeland Borough Council and The National Trust.  I then became involved in the Whitehaven International Maritime Festival in 2000.  I was ashamed to say I missed the first festival as I was on holiday, the people in the town talked about the event for the rest of the year, I naturally wondered what I missed out on so became involved before the second event and have become hooked ever since!  I originally worked as a volunteer before becoming Marketing Director in 2005. It sounds glamorous but it isn’t a paid job and involves many hours of my spare time but I'm still here after 7 years and still believe it is well worth the effort.

Tell us about your business/ event

The event is one of the biggest of its kind in the UK, this year the event will have more air displays than ever before including the Red Arrows, Battle of Britain Memorial Flight as well as a number of private air displays.   There are several tall ships, a passenger cruise ship, hovercraft, Royal Navy vessels, non-stop street theatre and music as well as one of the largest travelling ferris wheels in Europe.   The firework finale on the Saturday evening will be the biggest one Whitehaven has ever seen!    This year the event has spread into the town even further and includes a celebrity chef theatre with Keith Floyd and Jean Christophe Novelli in St Nicholas Church Gardens.  The event takes place over three days this year, Friday 15th, Saturday 16th and Sunday 17th June 2007.  Our target is to attract in excess of 275,000 visitors over the three days.

What is the secret of running a successful event?

Money, time and plenty of creativity! It also involves a lot of dedication or insanity from those who give up their time to organise the event. 

How important is the tourism industry to the area?

Tourism is very important, there is a lot of emphasis on growing tourism in the area it is important for us to work together to create a critical mass of reasons for people to visit with plenty of choice and reasons to keep on visiting.

How has the partnerships work benefited your business?  The work of the Whitehaven Maritime and the objectives of the partnership are similar, we both strive for the same end goal - to raise the profile of the area, attract staying tourists, and increase the spending into the local economy.  

What do you think the partnership can do in the future to continue to help grow the tourism offer in the WLD?  By ensuring that our destination is able to compete successfully with other areas and continue to grow our tourist numbers by being at the forefront of marketing, making our area a destination of choice by growing the number of repeat visitors and entering into new emerging markets.

Do you have anything new you would like to tell us about? Anything new coming up in 2007?  The Whitehaven International Maritime Festival is our main event.  For anyone who hasn’t been fortunate enough to visit the festival – see our website – www.thefestival.org.uk and don’t miss the event this year!

What do you think the WLD has to offer that is different to anywhere else?

The Western Lake District is an area of complete contrasts from the coastal towns, to the market towns, the beaches, lakes and mountains there is something for everyone all within a short drive time.

Do you have any favourite places in the WLD?

Walking along Whitehaven Harbour on a dark evening when the wave and crows nest are lit up! 

Sum up the WLD in one word

Undiscovered!

That's all for Junes edition our e-newsletter.

The next edition will be due out in early September.

If you would like anything featured in the September issue please contact Lucy Wilson on 01900 818741 or lwilson@western-lakedistrict.co.uk