TAMAR Valley Tourism held their first ‘Tourism Conference’ at Launceston Town Hall on March 27.

The event was well attended with guest speakers from a wide range of tourism sectors including Visit Cornwall, Mayflower 400, and Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership to name a few.

There were also trade stands from iWalk Cornwall, Tamar Valley Donkey Park, Exciting Education and many others. Lunch was supplied by Lifton Farm Shop, and coffee by Number 8 Café. There were also speeches from Cornwall Council leader and ward member for Launceston North and North Petherwin Adam Paynter, Ewan Murray of Launceston Tourist Information Centre, Rebecca Catterall from Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnerships and Richard Burrow from Cotehele National Trust.

Malcolm Bell from Visit Cornwall gave an informative and inspirational talk. He spoke about plans for Devon and Cornwall to work together, for mutual benefit. As 44% of visitors to Cornwall think that ‘memories are made in Cornwall’, it’s the perfect place to be. He said that the future hinges on working to attract overseas visitors, in particular from the USA. Visit Cornwall have a five year commitment to double the size of the American market, building on the Mayflower 400 commemorative celebrations next year. The projected 1% growth over the next ten years means an extra two- million visitors. Visit Cornwall are advertising the shoulder months, and things that visitors can do, and how they can travel ie. by train from Heathrow to the South West.

Tom Cox of Mayflower 400 focused on American visitors too, and 500,000 are expected to visit Plymouth. This will create a huge demand for accommodation in and around Plymouth, in the Tamar Valley and into Cornwall and Devon.

Lizzie Stroud from Railholidays spoke about the importance of diversifying business, sustainability, and winning awards which she has done so many times.

Sammie Coryton from Pentillie Castle, famous for the Sky1 TV series ‘Delicious’ featuring Dawn French and Emelia Fox, spoke about embracing opportunities and the benefits of working with TV, and how to arrange it.

This is the first of a new line up of events planned to help promote the Tamar Valley area.

For more information visit www.TAVATA.co.uk