Tourism

Rory launching Tourism week at Lowther CastleTourism is our main income-earner, bringing in over one billion pounds a year, and supporting over ten thousand families in Penrith and The Border. People come to Cumbria for its wild and unspoilt landscape, its traditional small farms and its close-cropped fells. Cumbria’s competitive advantage remains its rural beauty, and any long-term strategy for the area must recognise that it is the protection of our landscape which will protect our economy. I was instrumental in launching the Cumbria Tourism APG in recognition of this.

The hugely successful “Cumbria Day”, held in Westminster since 2013, showcases the best of what this county has to offer, and any wider strategy has to continue to promote the area further afield. The Lake District is an incredibly powerful and internationally recognised brand that we must continue to develop and reinvigorate. In so doing, I see no reason why we cannot find ourselves in a world where tourists coming from China, India or Brazil see a photo on top of Blencathra as much an essential part of any sight-seeing trip to the UK, as Big Ben or Stonehenge.

Rory to Launch Group to Promote Cumbrian Tourism in Westminster

Following a meeting with Eric Robson, Chairman and Ian Stephens, Managing Director of Cumbria Tourism, Rory has pledged to create a platform from which Cumbrian tourism can be discussed in Parliament and promoted outside of Cumbria. Rory has proposed setting up an associate parliamentary group which would involve all Cumbrian MPs and Lords as well […]

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Rory pledges his support for Solway Aviation Museum

Rory met this weekend with members of the management team and staff of the Solway Aviation Museum and visited their world-famous Avro Vulcan bomber, in a show of solidarity for the volunteer-run tourist attraction, which faces an uncertain future as a tenant of Stobart Air at Carlisle’s airfield. The museum’s team is concerned at the […]

Static caravans VAT reduction success

Rory celebrated his and fellow MPs’ success  in achieving reduction of VAT on  static caravans this May (2012). “I am delighted that I and my colleagues’ efforts have paid off, and that the Chancellor has confirmed that the proposed increase in VAT on static caravans will not, thanks to our vigorous lobbying, go ahead as […]

rory opens Eden Tourism Week

Rory launches English Tourism week in Eden

  Rory launched Eden’s English Tourism Week 2012 celebrations as a guest of honour at Lowther Castle and Gardens near Penrith, one of the region’s newest tourist attractions. The Castle and Gardens, currently closed to the public but opening for two special “Daffodil Weekends“ at the end of March prior to full opening later in […]

Rory congratulates local Rampsbeck Hotel on prestigious TripAdvisor Award

  Rory has congratulated Watermillock’s Rampsbeck Hotel on winning the prestigious TripAdvisor Traveller’s Choice Award. The prize, awarded by millions of real travellers, puts the Rampsbeck Hotel among a small group of hotels worldwide recognised for consistent excellence. Fewer than four thousand hotels worldwide have received a Traveller’s Choice Award this year. Rory said: “I’m […]

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illumination of hadrian’s wall

Rory – whose constituency includes thirty miles of Hadrian’s Wall – convened a meeting on Saturday to develop the potential of Hadrian’s Wall for tourists, Cumbrian businesses and the Cumbrian identity. In particular, he pressed to repeat the success of the 2010 illumination of the wall by making it an annual festival. “The illumination brought […]

Discovering_Eden

tourism

Discovering Eden Sir John Mandeville, the great medieval traveller, claimed to have visited almost every place in the world except the Garden of Eden: he describes China; he describes a country of “eternal darkness” which appears to be Afghanistan. “But of Paradise,” he writes, “I cannot speak, for I was not there … which I […]

export ban for crosby garrett mask

 CALLS FOR EXPORT BAN ON THE CROSBY GARRETT ROMAN MASK Rory Stewart, MP for Penrith and the Border has called on an immediate ban on the export of the Crosby Garrett Roman mask, which sold today for £2.3 million at auction in Christie’s – almost eight times the estimated price. Rory’s own personal email and website […]