Friday 15th was a big day for the local business men and women of Copeland as Mayor Mike Starkie hosted Copeland Tourism Summit at St Bees Management Centre, addressing all the vital assets and simply how much Copeland has to offer.
In a fantastic presentation by Gill Haigh, managing director of Cumbria Tourism it was mentioned that If by chance Copeland increases its numbers by just one percent it could boost the local economy by almost £2 million, the prestigious delegates of the summit were exclusivley told.
The delegates at the first Copeland Tourism Summit were urged to make more of the west coast, and work together.
Carla Arrighi exclusively told Visit Whitehaven "Everyone was singing from the same hymn sheet' Carla is local business woman and has lived in the area for many years and simply loves the area In which she lives and works in.
The county's leaders are also working to apply for Tourism Action Zone status from the Government, to give Cumbria an extra boost.
Jenny Brumby was also in attendance of the summit, she has recently setup an amazing digital platform going by the name 'Copeland The Undiscovered Jewel' she was credited by Trudy 'Jenny is an amazing can do person and is a huge credit to her area' and also Mayor Mike starkie credited Jenny.
Transport was also high on the agenda and Mr Whitelocks from travel firm Stagecoach told the audience that it wanted to help, and needed people to approach them, it was mentioned by the Stagecoach Cumbria managing director Mark Whitelocks that "There has been no mention of bus services, we can be flexible and do more and be more joined up." This was mentioned during the Q&A with Trudy and the other speakers. Trudy responded and said that she would be pleased to arrange a meeting with Stagecoach to discuss how the firm could help.
Mr Frost-Pennington from Muncaster Castle and the Pennington Hotels took delegates through an amazing tour of Copeland's key assets via some 4K imagery by Adamedia.
Mr Pennington went on and said: "Tourism is often seen as a second league industry. It's not. It's premier league. It provides jobs and they aren't Cinderella or temporary jobs either.
"It provides facilities. In Ravenglass, there are 300 people. It has a pub, tearoom, B&B and post office all on one street.
"There are three pubs in total in the village. I'm not sure there are many communities of that size which can boast that."
Overall the event was extremely positive, and felt needed and necessary, myself and everyone who attended hope that we can take Copeland and boast about everything we have to offer. - Oliver Hodgson