Statistics show an improving tourism economy

After a couple of difficult years, the region’s tourist industry is showing definite signs of recovery. Business bosses have revealed that adventure tourism is set to bring 1,000 jobs to North Wales over the next five years, hotels in the Wirral are second on Hotels.com’s ‘most searched for’ list and, nationally, VisitBritain says the number of overseas visitors to Britain is rising.

A great many positive statistics have been published about our clients and service areas over the last couple of months. For instance: 

Ø  Over 32,500 people visited Tatton Park between 22^nd and 25^th April 2011, which is 30% up on the attraction’s previous Easter weekend. 

Ø  The Wirral’s visitor economy is worth over £250 million a year and has increased by a substantial 11% in the last five years. 

Ø  During the May Bank Holiday over 2,500 visitors flocked to the National Trust’s Erddig in Wrexham – double its figures for the same period in 2010. 

Ø  So popular has Liverpool become since it was European Capital of Culture in 2008 that a strategy document says its tourism industry is likely to be worth £2 billion and support 37,000 jobs by 2020. 

Other News

We can report that two long-standing clients of LDS Tourism Services (namely: Knowsley Safari Park and Blue Planet Aquarium) have been nominated to take part in Eden’s Top Wildlife Attraction 2011. Knowsley was the winner last year, so please take a few moments to register your details and cast your votes.

Cheshire Taste Café, which can be found in the recently re-refurbished Chester Visitor Centre, has created a lovely new website. Managed by the talented chef, Dave Mooney and his lovely fiancé, Jane Casson, the establishment has quickly gained a reputation for serving delicious locally sourced products. Weather permitting, diners can enjoy some of the best Cheshire beers, cheeses, ice creams and cakes on the terrace overlooking City’s famous Roman amphitheatre. The Visitor Centre is also home to Chester Box Office (which sells tickets for local attractions), Busybus, Chester Heritage Tours, a lovely Gift Shop and our very own TIP (Tourist Information Point). Please contact us if you would like your leaflets or brochures displayed in this popular venue. 

Finally, we would like to congratulate Merseytravel’s U-boat Story for being named as Small Visitor Attraction of the Year at the Mersey Partnership’s Annual Tourism Awards 2011.

Image: Liverpool Albert Dock @VisitBritain 2011

Was Your Summer As Good As Ours?

Carvings at the Cheshire Game & Country Fair

The latter part of the summer may have been somewhat unpredictable in the weather department but August 2010 turned out to be an exciting month for several of our clients.

Both Blue Planet Aquarium and Knowsley Safari Park were shortlisted for the prestigious title of Wildlife Attraction of the Year. To celebrate the best of the best, Eden satellite channel asked the public to vote for their favourite wildlife attraction in the UK – narrowing it down to only ten. Voting closes on 24th September and the winner will be announced in the autumn, so there’s still plenty of time for you to influence the outcome.

Chester Zoo launched its gorgeous new website complete with interactive map, videos and automated news updates. It is bright, bold, colourful ... in other words, lots of fun. Take a look for yourself and while you are there you can follow the progress of Nayan – the zoo’s five week old elephant calf.

Out & About in the Region

Team LDSTS found time to have some fun, too. Diana, Jenny and I went to the Cheshire Game & Country Fair over the August Bank Holiday weekend. This three-day annual event, which takes place at the Cheshire Showground in Tabley, was as action packed as ever. There were falconry displays, equestrian attractions, a mini beer festival, chainsaw carving competitions, over 150 trade exhibitors and even a hamster show.

Treacle & Buster take part in the Charity Companion Dog Show

Earlier in the month, several members of the team went along to a couple of dog shows in North Wales. The first was the Charity Companion Dog Show at Bellis Brothers (in Holt) on 14th August. Frequent bouts of heavy rain did nothing to deter the doggy competitors and their owners from taking part in both pedigree and novelty classes - with rosettes and prizes given for 1st to 4th place in each class. The day was a great success and all proceeds went to Nightingale House Hospice in Wrexham.

The sun shone brightly for Dog Day Afternoon at Alyn Waters Country Park on 19th August. Organised by the Friends of Alyn Waters Group (with support from Guide Dogs for the Blind, Hearing Dogs for the Deaf, PDSA and Greyhound Rescue Wales), this fun dog show was a hugely entertaining event. In addition to competitions there were agility demonstrations, stalls and owners were given the opportunity to have their pets micro-chipped. The show was very well attended and money was raised towards restoring a statue outside the Visitor Centre and carrying out repairs on a damaged newt pond. If you are interested in becoming a member of the group and helping conserve and develop the Park’s flora and fauna, please drop Brenda a line at brenda@maudling.co.uk. There are a series of Drop in Sessions taking place at the café over the next four months (commencing Monday 20th September). Why not nip in for a chat and find out how you can help?

So, where did you go this summer? Did you visit any local attractions, beauty spots or events? Send us your reviews and comments and we may very well publish them in Swift Flyer.

Images © LDS Tourism Services Ltd., 2010

An Autumn Roundup From LDS Tourism

Autumn is here, which means that leaflets promoting Halloween events and firework displays are now prominently displayed in our stands. The “barbecue summer” promised by the Met Office may have failed to materialise, but we are at least enjoying a spell of fine weather at the moment – extending the season for all our clients with outdoor attractions.

As industry figures begin to trickle in for 2009, it would appear that a slump in room rates caused many British hotels to suffer a poor August. However, according to preliminary monthly figures from the PKF Hotel Consultancy Services, hotels in Liverpool were able to achieve a 7.6% growth in occupancy during this period – an excellent result when compared to the 2.3% drop experienced by similar establishments in London.

We were delighted to learn of two rare new arrivals at Blue Planet Aquarium in Ellesmere Port last week. The birth of a pair of Anableps – four-eyed fish, originally from South America – caused great excitement at this popular visitor attraction. These unusual freshwater fish apparently use their extra eyes to see both above and below the surface of the water, giving them added protection against predators and allowing them to find food. The babies measure approximately 5cm when born but are expected to reach 15-20cm at eight months.

The autumn/winter 09/10 issue of Swift Flyer – our newsletter containing updates, company news and industry snippets - is now available on our website. If you have problems opening the pdf document, simply drop us a line and we will snail-mail a hard copy.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank Andrea Monteith, the editor of Word of Mouth, for giving LDS Tourism Services a plug in the 4th birthday edition of this popular glossy publication (Issue 22, page 18, It’s our Birthday!). Known as “the magazine for Wales”, WOM is delivered by us to outlets throughout our service area and contains fascinating articles about people and places in North Wales, details of up-and-coming events and heaps of suggestions for filling your leisure time. In the October issue you can read pieces about rainwater harvesting, wild birds in your garden and a fashion show with a difference. Be sure to pick up a free copy from your nearest LDS Tourist Info Point.

Finally, we can report that there has been a great deal of interest expressed in our new Social Media Marketing service. If you would like to know more about how we can help you promote your business on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn etc., please contact us for further information.

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Photograph © Karen Bramblet, 2009