Marketing Lancashire appoints Creative Tourist to help develop county as year-round cultural destination

Marketing Lancashire has appointed Creative Tourist, to develop a cultural tourism narrative for Lancashire, which will help raise the county’s profile as a year-round cultural destination. The development of cultural tourism reflects one of the key ambitions expressed in the county’s new Visitor Economy Strategy, which aims to increase annual visitors from 63million to 70million by 2020.

Creative Tourist has a proven track record across tourism, cultural and digital sectors; helping destinations position themselves as places that cultural tourists actively want to visit.  The company has worked around the UK in places as diverse as Preston, Blackpool, Cumbria, London, Bath & Bristol, Norfolk & Suffolk, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Torbay and Cheltenham on a range of strategic and tactical projects exclusively to develop cultural tourism.

Chief Executive of Marketing Lancashire Ruth Connor said “As a county we need to better understand and communicate the strengths of the destination in order to attract more culture-seekers to Lancashire.  The county has an incredible range of accommodation as well as a food & drink offer that is second to none, combine these with some of the successful performances, exhibitions and events already taking place in the county and you have a very appealing proposition for the culture-savvy visitor. Creative Tourist has the specialist knowledge that will help us define our unique place in England’s cultural landscape and develop the tools to communicate the Lancashire cultural narrative to new audiences both in this country and internationally.”

Director of Creative Tourist Alex Saint says “As many Lancastrians already know, the cultural offer in the county is as distinctive and diverse as its landscape, running from Pennines to coast via urban centres, historic waterways and stunning forestry. Our job is to tap into the creative imagination already at play, help connect different parts of the cultural and tourism offer and then magnify it, so that more tourist visitors from outside the county are aware of just how much there is here to be enjoyed and celebrated. It is a pleasure to be working alongside Marketing Lancashire and the Lancashire Arts Partnership to support the growth of cultural tourism in Lancashire.”

Marketing Lancashire has developed a pan-Lancashire Cultural Tourism Project Steering Group comprising representatives from Arts Lancashire, Lancashire County Council, Blackburn with Darwen Council, Blackpool Council and Marketing Lancashire. 
This group will lead on the strategic direction of the project, which has been funded through the award of £50K from the Arts Council England Lottery Funded Grants For the Arts programme.

ENDS

For more information on Marketing Lancashire please contact:

Anna Izza, Head of PR and Communications 01772 426 459
Laura Crabb, PR and Communications Executive 01772 426 456