Visit Shropshire welcomes Visit Britain

New tourism association Visit Shropshire has taken a huge step forward by welcoming head of Visit England Andrew Stokes to the county town.

Visit Shropshire is set to launch with a brand-new website, guide book, map, branding and tourism strategy for the county over the course of the next two months.

Mark Hooper (project lead) said: "We are so excited here at Visit Shropshire to promote our county both nationally and through working with partners such as Visit Britain internationally. Shropshire has so much to offer from the rolling hills of the south, meres in the north, historic county town of Shrewsbury and a UNESCO world heritage site at Ironbridge and we will now bring the whole county together to promote to the world what a beautiful and interesting part of Britain we are."

Along with colleague Sarah Creighton - both formerly of the Sabrina Boat in Shrewsbury - they have developed a destination management plan for the next three years which involves working with a number of stakeholders in the visitor economy sector including Shropshire Council, Marches LEP, Tourism Groups, BIDs, neighbouring counties and Visit Britain to put Shropshire firmly on the tourism map.

Visit Shropshire is not just about promotion of the county but will also be working closely with other sectors of our economy including transport infrastructure to ensure the county is ready for welcoming visitors, and will be developing programmes with Visit England for tourism and hospitality businesses to engage and develop their own businesses.

The project will be funded through an innovative membership scheme which businesses will be able to join within the next two weeks.

Sarah said: "As we are completely funded by our members, we will be communicating regularly with them to ensure their needs and ideas are put forward as these are the people who work within the tourism sector at the front line on a daily basis.

"We have been working hard to develop a modern and beneficial membership scheme including the opportunity for businesses to be part of our integrated booking system, be part of our PR and press visits, take part in workshops and join in various marketing campaigns throughout the year."

Andrew Stokes (head of Visit Britain) met the team who presented their plans, aims, objectives and obstacles for the county. Visit Britain representatives were also given a tour of Shrewsbury and met with several businesses in the town.