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Businesses come together to boost £180m tourism sector

Tourism, Museums and The Arts
15:58, Friday, 15th March 2019

Tourism businesses from across North Lincolnshire came together at Normanby Hall on Friday 8 March to launch a new partnership aimed at boosting the area’s tourism.

The North Lincolnshire Tourism Partnership aims to grow the thriving visitor economy, enhance the visitor experience and maximise visitor numbers, increasing spend and the number of overnight stays in our area.

Tourism and visitors to North Lincolnshire generated around £180m for the local economy in 2017, and the sector supports 2,300 jobs on average. The aim of the partnership is to work across the area and continue to grow this sector.

Over 60 local businesses attended the event to find out more and join the Partnership, with around a dozen signing-up there and then.

Owner of the Old School Canteen in Barton upon Humber, Ruthanne Dent, said:

“This is such a positive step. I’ve been involved in the partnership from the initial idea and so it’s really nice to see it come to this point.”

Jason Frary, of sports events organiser, Curly’s Athletes, said:

“It’s a brilliant idea. North Lincolnshire has got so much to offer so we’ll definitely get signed up; it’s a no brainer.”

In November 2018, the council’s Tourism team held an engagement event to hear from local businesses about what they would want to see from the partnership. Their valuable feedback has helped shaped a valuable and beneficial partnership that works for all its members.

Cllr Elaine Marper, cabinet member responsible for tourism on North Lincolnshire Council, said:

“The Tourism Partnership will support the visitor sector in North Lincolnshire and help our local businesses reach their full potential. Tourism is one of the fastest growing sectors in the UK, and the Partnership will provide the right conditions to support that growth in North Lincolnshire.

“In 2017, North Lincolnshire welcomed 3.2million visitors. Our ambition is to grow that to four million over the next 20 years, and we can only do that by working with all our tourism businesses and venues, big and small.”

If you would like to find out more information about the North Lincolnshire Tourism Partnership, please contact the Tourism team on tourism@northlincs.gov.uk, head to www.visitnorthlincolnshire.com, or call 01724 297000.