As international restrictions continue to ease, Cumbria Tourism continues to work hard to keep the Lake District and wider county front and centre in the minds of the world’s leading travel trade operators.

Key staff from Cumbria’s official destination management organisation (DMO) are scheduled to attend a busy calendar of high-profile travel trade events in 2022, to showcase the county as a world-class destination and forge relationships with influential buyers and group tour operators who are all ready to contract the best of the UK’s tourism products.

The DMO has already had a strong presence at key trade shows across the country this year and will continue this work starting with the Britain and Ireland Marketplace, hosted by the European Tourism Association in January 2022 – where they will bring Cumbria to life and inspire visits and trip itineraries for major international buyers.

While capturing demand from the rise in domestic staycations has been a key goal at events this year as part of their #theperfectplacetobe Covid-19 recovery marketing efforts – Cumbria Tourism’s marketing manager Sue Clarke says keeping international markets warm has been just as important as the UK now looks to safely welcome back overseas visitors.

“Our team has been working tirelessly to keep Cumbria in the hearts and minds of our trade partners and group operators over this time, and as we look toward 2022 we want to ensure Cumbria is at the forefront by showcasing the very best of what our beautiful county has to offer,” Sue said.

The work doesn’t stop there, as the team has also collated a directory of ‘travel trade ready’ products and suppliers to share with buyers at these events and they are calling for more local businesses to get involved and submit information on exciting new developments or group travel products.

Sue added: “We want to hear from our local hospitality and tourism operators about any new refurbishments or developments that we can promote to these valuable buyers who are all looking to expand their UK portfolios – in particular we have seen a strong interest in group accommodation and activities, sustainable products and unique experiences.”

This information will be included in the DMO’s trade directory at upcoming 2022 events and will be used to tailor requests that are often received from the travel-trade industry.

Upcoming events also include the VisitBritain MeetGB 2022 virtual event where they will meet with prominent conference and event planners to promote Cumbria as #theperfectplacetomeet in a world heritage setting, exhibiting the best of the county’s meeting, conference, exhibition, and incentive products.

Cumbria Tourism has also registered to attend VisitBritain’s flagship event ExploreGB which brings together hand-picked international buyers from over 30 markets and the best of the UK travel trade.

Businesses that are already working with, or are interested in working with the travel trade and would like to feature in the trade directory should email: campaigns@cumbriatourism.org