Tourism minister visits the Cotswolds
Tourism in the Cotswolds has received a welcome boost thanks to a visit by Tourism Minister Nigel Huddleston MP on Saturday 4th July. His visit coincides with the reopening of many pubs, restaurants and museums and comes at a time when Cotswold tourism businesses are facing one of the toughest periods in their history.
SHARED ON BEHALF OF COTSWOLD TOURISM
Tourism in the Cotswolds is worth around one billion pounds to the local economy and has been hit hard by the global COVID pandemic, so this was an important opportunity for Mr Huddleston to discover more about how business has been affected.
He chose to visit less well known attractions – in particular those who’ve worked with Cotswolds Tourism on their Uncover the Cotswolds project. Launched in 2019 following a successful bid from the Government’s Discover England Fund, the project worked with lesser known tourism businesses on how to work with the lucrative inbound travel trade.
After a visit to Cogges Manor Farm in Oxfordshire, Mr Huddleston was given a brief tour of the High Street in Chipping Campden, where he met Sarah and Michael Alexiou of Woolmarket House bed and breakfast to hear first-hand from those affected by the pandemic.
His final stop of the day was at Batsford Arboretum, where the minister explored the arboretum to see what changes the attraction has had to make to be ready to open up to visitors again. He also met Eddie Dale of Cotswolds Tours and Travel, who represented Cotswold tour operators – one of the worst hit tourism sectors, to find out how the Government could potentially help.
Following his day’s visit the minister said:
"I was delighted to visit the Cotswolds to mark the reopening of the country's tourism sector this weekend. Across the country the tourism industry will play an important part in the recovery - supporting jobs, businesses and driving local growth. The Cotswolds has so much to offer from historic houses to stunning scenery and I want to encourage everyone to explore the fantastic offerings on their doorstep and beyond but most importantly to enjoy summer safely."
Sally Graff, & Sophy Long from Cotswold Tourism accompanied the visit and said:
“We were delighted to meet the minister and explain to him about the incredible & diverse experiences available throughout the year here in the Cotswolds. As a key tourism organisation we know it is important for the industry to encourage off peak visits throughout the rest of the year, especially now businesses are able to reopen. We are working hard to support the businesses to be Covid ready using the Visit England industry standard ‘We’re Good to Go’.
We all appreciated the time the minister has spent in The Cotswolds today and look forward to welcoming him again soon.”
Contact Information
Notes to editors
About VisitBritain/VisitEngland
- VisitBritain/VisitEngland is the national tourism agency – a non-departmental public body funded by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS)
- Working with a wide range of partners in both the UK and overseas, our mission is to grow the volume and value of inbound tourism across the nations and regions of Britain and to develop world-class English tourism product to support our growth aspirations. For further information and to access the latest in-depth market intelligence and statistics visit visitbritain.org or www.visitbritain.com and www.visitengland.com for consumer information.
About Cotswolds Tourism
Cotswolds Tourism is the official Destination Management Organisation promoting and marketing tourism across the Cotswolds. A public-private sector partnership, the aim is to grow the Cotswolds visitor economy by raising awareness about the destination and generating additional tourism visits and spend.
Cotswolds Tourism is a partnership of tourism businesses, supported by local authorities of Cheltenham Borough Council, Cotswold District Council, Stroud District Council, Tewkesbury Borough Council, West Oxfordshire District Council and the Cotswolds Conservation Board. Cotswolds Tourism’s priority is to grow the area’s Visitor Economy by raising awareness of the destination and generating additional tourism visits and spend. For key economic statistics and information see www.cotswolds.com/partnership
For press enquiries please contact Cotswolds Tourism Sally Graff or Chris Jackson via 01285 623050 email cotswoldstourism@cotswold.gov.uk