English Tourism Week to highlight the brilliant Cotswolds tourism economy as the sector looks to recover from the pandemic

English Tourism Week, which is run by Visit England, is designed to celebrate the diverse, exciting and vibrant tourism sector, and showcase the quality, range and value of English tourism to local economies and communities.

Councillor Tony Dale, Cabinet Member for Economy and Skills said; “Tourism plays a huge role in our local economy and many of our tourism related businesses have really struggled over the past year. 

“Through the Cotswolds DMO this week we are making sure national organisations know the value of the unique and brilliant Cotswold tourism sector.

“I would like to thank our businesses for the amazing resilience they have demonstrated over the last year and how so many have adapted and continued to trade in new and innovative ways to keep jobs and business going.”

Tourism plays a large role in the local economy of the Cotswolds with 17% of jobs in the area related to tourism, or around 5,300 jobs. Visitors spent around £360 million pounds in 2019. Overall for the wider Cotswolds area spend is over a billion pounds a year.

As restrictions ease and tourism related businesses start to reopen, many are looking to recover strongly from the impacts of lockdown and wider pandemic as visitors return.

The highly regarded Cotswolds Tourism DMO, funded in part by Cotswold District Council, has plans in place to help local business recover through new initiatives including training and support especially around digital marketing skills to rebuild the sector and enable businesses to adapt to the changing landscape as a result of the pandemic. These include the exciting ‘Uncover the Cotswolds’ and ‘Real Cotswolds’ campaigns. 

The work of the Cotswold DMO sits alongside the wide range of business support provided by Cotswold District Council throughout the pandemic including distribution of millions of pounds worth of vital business grants, free training and materials to help businesses open safely.

Councillor Dale said “It is important local leaders listen and it is fundamental to how we operate as a council.

“We have worked incredibly hard as a local council to support our businesses during the pandemic and we will continue to do so as we look to support green economic growth across the Cotswolds as we recover from the impacts of the past year.”