North West

The North West region receives more than 30 million overnight visitors a year. There are 18,000 businesses in the tourism sector across England s Northwest, with the industry worth over £11 billion annually to the regional economy. Employment in the sector is equivalent to 6% of the regional workforce.

Reasons for visiting the region vary, with Cumbria’s tourism dominated by leisure breaks of a week or more and the rest of the regions tourism dominated by short stay city breaks, businesses tourism or visits to friends and relatives.

Tourism is important to the North West economy and is identified as a priority growth sector by the Regional Development Agency (RDA).

A Tourism Directorate at the RDA provides a leading strategic role for tourism development in the region, while sub-regional tourist boards act as primary delivery partners.

Tourism England s Northwest

Tourism England s Northwest is the visitor economy forum for the region. It was created to drive up the quality and range of facilities and attractions in the Northwest, as well as to market the region to a broad range of potential visitors. The forum gives a collective voice for businesses and organisations that make up the tourism sector in the North West region, and acts as a strategic monitoring body for the Regional Tourism Strategy.

The Tourism Forum brings together the five tourist boards, the Northwest Regional Development Agency, Culture Northwest, business people, independent tourism experts and VisitBritain.

Northwest Regional Development Agency

The Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA) has an in-house coordinating unit for tourism. Working with partners, it aims to entice more visitors to the region from the UK and abroad, develop the tourism product and make the region an increasingly important business tourism destination.

With a strategic responsibility for tourism in the North West, the agency have developed The Strategy for Tourism in England’s Northwest. It serves as a guide to the continued growth and success of the industry and sets out the actions needed to maximise the potential of the people who work in the tourism sector, boost the performance of tourism businesses, improve the tourism infrastructure and boost regional tourism marketing. The strategy is supported by a Strategic Marketing Framework and a Strategy for Major Events.

Key People

Director of Tourism James Berresford
Head of Tourism Marketing Nick Brook Sykes
Head of Visitor Economy Jane Randall
Head of Tourism Strategy Phil Reddy
Tourism Press Officer Helen Batte

Contact Details

Northwest Regional Development Agency
Renaissance House
Centre Park
Warrington
Cheshire
WA1 1XB
Telephone: 01925 400100

Corporate website: www.nwda.co.uk
Consumer website: www.visitenglandsnorthwest.com

Sub Regional

Sub-Regional Tourist Boards

As part of its strategic role, the NWDA identified five sub-regional tourist boards to act as the primary delivery partners for tourism in the region.

In January 2009 the NWDA announced a £20.6 million funding package for the region’s five sub-regional tourist boards. The funding was allocated to the sub-regional boards to help them develop and promote the visitor economy during the difficult economic climate.

Contact Details

Cumbria Tourism
Windermere Road
Staveley
Kendal
Cumbria
LA8 9PL
Tel: 01539 822222
Email: jdarroch@cumbriatourism.org
Website: www.cumbriatourism.info

Chief Executive: Ian Stephens



Visit Chester and Cheshire
Chester Station
1st Floor
West Wing Offices
Station Road
Chester
CH1 3NT
Tel: 01244 405 600
Email: info@visitchesterandcheshire.co.uk
Website: www.visitchesterandcheshire.co.uk

Chief Executive: Chris Brown



The Lancashire & Blackpool Tourist Board
St. George s House
St. George s Street
Chorley
Lancashire
PR7 2AA
Tel: 01257 226600
Email: enquiries@lbtbltd.com
Website: www.lancashireandblackpool.com

Chief Executive: Mike Wilkinson


Visit Manchester – the Tourist Board for Greater Manchester
Carver s Warehouse,
77 Dale Street,
Manchester,
M1 2HG

Tel: 0161 237 1010
Email: webmaster@visitmanchester.com
Website: www.themanchestertouristboard.com

Managing Director: Paul Simpson


The Mersey Partnership – The Tourist Board for Merseyside
12 Princes Parade
Liverpool
L3 1BG
Tel: 0151 227 2727
Email: askme@merseyside.org.uk traveltrade@visitliverpool.com
Website: www.merseyside.org.uk

Chief Executive - Lorraine Rogers

Sunday, 5 September 2010