A delegation of 40 tourism officials and the industry’s chiefs from Great Yarmouth are travelling to a north west resort to share top tips on attracting visitors and how they can improve their offer.
On Tuesday, the delegates will travel to Southport for a three-day study visit organised by the Greater Yarmouth Tourism and Business Improvement Area.
The delegates will be meeting their counterpart tourism chiefs and will also find out how the Southport Business Improvement District is progressing.
Like Great Yarmouth, Southport is proud of its strong tourism offer, with its scenic beach, annual air show and musical fireworks display proving very popular.
Southport’s tourism bosses are also keen to highlight how a series of regular events is key to its success, just as the future of the Great Yarmouth Air Show has been thrown into doubt.
Hugh Evans, of Southport Business Improvement District, said: “Events are hugely important to our town and it’s something that the BID, Sefton Council, and our private sector partners do very well indeed.
“The Southport Airshow, flower show, and British Musical Firework Championship are among the top “paid for” events across the Merseyside region whilst the BID-organised 2018 Christmas lights switch-on resulted in the town’s busiest ever Sunday footfall of 45,000 for many years.
“There’s barely a month that goes by without a significant event happening in our town and that’s helping attract record numbers of visitors.”
Mark Catherall, Sefton Council’s tourism manager, said: “Both Great Yarmouth and Southport have a number of similarities and we can use the stay to share our expert knowledge, best practice and learning in the tourism sector.
“We are very proud of our working relationship with many different external partners and we will use this opportunity to share this with the delegation during their visit.
“We really hope the time spent in Southport will be beneficial to all partners involved.”
Karen Youngs, from the Greater Yarmouth Tourism Improvement District, said it was not just a case of both resorts praising each other as they will discuss problems and challenges they face.
It will also help shape Yarmouth improvement district’s future direction as it faces a vote next summer if it should continue.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here