How important is rural tourism?
As the foot and mouth crisis has so clearly demonstrated rural tourism is crucial to the local and national economy. Total spending by visitors to the English countryside amounts to 12 billion per annum and supports 380,000 jobs. Domestic visitors make 15 million holiday trips to the countryside each year, which represents 25% of all holiday trips. How are you going to implement the strategy? Although the strategy has been produced by the English Tourism Council and the Countryside Agency, responsibility for implementing the strategy now lies with a wide range of organisations. At a national level this includes government departments, agencies involved in conservation and land management such as English Nature and the National Trust and tourism bodies. Regionally, it’s the RTBs, the regional offices of the Countryside Agency and the RDAs and at local level, local authorities will take the lead. What difference will this strategy actually make to rural tourism? As well as providing a cl
