Allerdale Borough Council hosted a Tourism Breakfast Briefing at Whinlatter Forest Park on Friday with representatives from about 30 businesses in attendance.

From the council, Deputy Leader and portfolio holder for economic growth, Cllr Mark Jenkinson welcomed guests while the authority’s Chief Executive Ian Frost concluded the morning’s event by urging businesses and organisations from across the borough and beyond to work together.

Joe Broomfield, the council’s Tourism Development Manager, explained the latest initiatives to help grow the visitor economy and updated people on the Visit Allerdale (www.visitallerdale.co.uk) campaign. Anna Chippendale, the council’s newly-appointed Events Manager also gave a talk on the importance of events in the area.

The event was also supported by Lynda McDairmant, from Tell Tale Marketing, who gave advice on the group travel market, and Cockermouth-based Fraser Hannah, of Wombat Creative, who spoke about how smaller businesses can use search engine optimization.

Cllr Jenkinson said: “The briefing was a fantastic event and there was some great advice on offer from Allerdale officers and from businesspeople who are experts in their fields. Thank you to all those who attended.

“We live and work in a wonderful part of the world and as a council we are committed to encouraging visitors to come here and explore what’s on offer. This not only helps businesses that work within the tourism sector directly, but many firms across the district who provide services to those businesses.

“We look forward to continuing our work and hosting more events like this in the future.”

The council would also like to thank Forestry England, who run Whinlatter Forest Park, for their hospitality. 

Forest ranger Nathan Fox spoke at the event, giving those in attendance information on the site, what goes on there and how many visitors it attracts.

He said: “We were delighted to host the event at Whinlatter and we want to continue to work with local businesses across Allerdale and north and west Cumbria to develop the tourism offering that we all benefit from.”

* To find out more about tourism in Allerdale, go to www.visitallerdale.co.uk