The leading tourist attraction, Windermere Lake Cruises is heading to Asia today to promote a message of “Come Visit Cumbria!”

For the first time since the pandemic, the company has organised trade missions to India and China with the aim to encourage more international travellers to visit the Lake District and Cumbria.

Sales and Marketing Director, Jennifer Cormack, is travelling to New Delhi, where she will stay between November 19 and 21, for VisitBritain’s Destination Britain India event.

After which, she will head to an event in China and stay in Shanghai from November 22 to the 24.

The events give key UK tourism attractions the chance to meet top travel operators from valuable overseas markets.         

                            “The Global Pandemic drastically reduced the number of overseas travellers coming to Cumbria and while there has been a steady increase in international travel since then – we need to build on that momentum,” Jennifer said.

“Before the pandemic, China was the second most valuable inbound market for the UK. That market, along with India’s travel trade, are increasingly important to Cumbria and the Lake District’s visitor economy.”

In September, Jennifer took the “Come Visit Cumbria” message to the United States and Canada. She joined other key Cumbrian businesses, including Cumbria Tourism, at the Destination Britain North America 2023 travel trade event in San Francisco to promote the county to that important international market. She’s also staged trade missions this year in Berlin, London and Ireland.

The hope is to enhance existing relationships and develop new contacts to unlock potential future trade opportunities.

“China has fully reopened its border since January 2023 and international travel restrictions have been lifted,” Jennifer said. “This is a key moment to develop our relationships with tourism trade representatives there.”

Meanwhile, over half a million tourists from India visited the UK in 2022 reaching 75% of 2019 levels. That market accounted for £764 million in visitor spend which was a record.

The importance to the visitor economy of international visitors is illustrated by research from Cumbria Tourism which shows international visitors usually spend 55% more per person per day than domestic visitors.