Making the most of international visitors

Funding is available for projects such as brochure and website translation that could help attract tourists from Europe, China and other markets in a scheme run by the Department of International Trade.

The subsidy was highlighted at a forum for small hospitality businesses run by The Cumberland in conjunction with Cumbria Tourism at The Belsfield Hotel.

At the meeting, 60 B&B and small hotel owners were encouraged to think about attracting more international visitors who are likely to spend more during their stay than UK visitors and will come at different times of the year to English school holidays.

Sue Clarke, sales and marketing manager with Cumbria Tourism, told the meeting that in 2017 international visitors made 252,171 trips to Cumbria, staying 1.55 million nights in the county and spending £99m.

“Targeting international visitors is not something to be scared of and is something smaller businesses can do if you spend some time to understand what the different nationalities require,” she said.

Small points such as providing slippers for Japanese visitors or continental breakfasts for Germans and directing American tourists to ‘quaint’ English experiences would make all the difference, she added.

Jennifer Cormack, marketing director at Windermere Lake Cruises, told the meeting about the work of the English Lake District China Forum and provided some insights into how to work with Chinese tourists.

Grant Seaton, business lending manager for The Cumberland, said he was pleased the delegates could get an insight into what they could do to attract more international visitors.

“This event came about through our new strategic partnership with Cumbria Tourism and gave some great insight into targetting certain nationalities and how that would fit into business planning.

"“We didn’t really dwell on Brexit.

"We can’t control so it’s better to have a plan and adapt it when the picture becomes clearer."