Cumbria Tourism and a group of Cumbrian tourism and hospitality businesses are in Germany this week to promote the county to international visitors.
The three-day ‘ITB Berlin’ event is dubbed ‘the largest travel trade show in the world’ and runs until Thursday 9 March 2023.
As the county’s official Destination Management Organisation (DMO), Cumbria Tourism and partners are promoting The Lake District, Cumbria as the ideal destination to global tour operators from a range of international travel markets. The strong contingent of local businesses involved includes Lake District Country Hotels, Langdale Hotel & Spa, Mountain Goat and Windermere Lake Cruises.
In 2019 (pre pandemic) tourism was worth £3.13billion to the Cumbrian economy and it’s estimated that £376million of that figure resulted from inbound tourism. The event is seen as a prime opportunity to build confidence and momentum post-pandemic; in fact, this will be the first time such a strong group of Cumbrian businesses has exhibited at ITB Berlin.
Sales and Marketing Executive Francine Bult is attending on behalf of Cumbria Tourism. She says: “We’re working closely with tourism businesses to help bring back international tourism after the pandemic. ITB Berlin is a huge travel trade event and a great opportunity to speak directly to tour operators on the global stage, reinforcing the Lake District and Cumbria as the number one choice for future visits and itineraries.
“According to Visit Britain, 47% of Germans say they are actively seeking to visit the UK for a holiday or short break within the next five years, so there is great potential there. Not only that, but we’re confident that by working together to create a large-scale Cumbrian presence at this event, we can open doors for tourism business in a wide range of international markets.”