The Tour de France takes centre stage at Cumbria Tourism Members Day
The Tour de France rolls its globally known brand across our region’s roads next year, offering its vast audience to opportunist local businesses.
The Cumberland Building Society had the pleasure of attending Cumbria Tourism’s recent ‘Member Meeting and AGM’, hosted at the Daffodil Hotel & Spa in Grasmere.
The day centred around the highly anticipated visit of the Tour de France to our region next year. Keynote speakers and council officials gave an insight into the sheer scale of the event, from both a logistical and commercial perspective. We quickly learned the scale of The Tour, ‘a potential larger audience than the Olympic Games’.
With visitors arriving from both across the UK and further afield, the event is an opportunity for the region to make a lasting impression on them. ‘Legacy’ was a word repeated several times and with good reason. Many visitors who will flock to the region to witness the 2-day event, will return later with friends, or spread the word to others. It’s a once in a lifetime event and one that already looms only a year away.
Lee Doswell from The Cumberland’s Commercial team attended the Members Day and had the pleasure of meeting fellow attendees, discussing the many opportunities that an event of this magnitude has to offer. As a long-term operator in the hospitality sector, The Cumberland have a proud history of assisting local businesses, from guest houses to hotels, and were keen to take on board their thoughts.
The Tour is a key event on the horizon and it was encouraging to also bear witness to the other projects that are on-going and enable our region to operate successfully.
Representatives of Cumbria Tourism were able to demonstrate how their regular activities will continue. This included initiatives to increase public transport routes around the county thanks to collaborations between rail and bus operators.
We also had the chance to learn from United Utilities and Electricity North-West who shared videos and information about large-scale development projects that will help future-proof the region’s infrastructure.
We came away with many thought-provoking insights and wish to offer thanks to our hosts at Cumbria Tourism and all concerned for a fabulous event.
At The Cumberland, we’re proud to be a part of our local communities. The Tour de France provides an opportunity to put our region permanently on the world map. One that we shouldn’t miss.