When I thought about how many proposals, marriages, honeymoons and anniversaries are celebrated in the Lakes it occurred to me that the Lake District might be called the romantic heart of England. This idea gained force when I heard that there had been no fewer than 13 proposals in one week at a boutique hotel in Windermere. So I took the opportunity of my Chairman’s speech at the AGM of the Lakes Hospitality Association to announce the launch of a PR campaign to promote the Lakes as the Romantic Heart of England. Sometimes people think of the Lakes as a place where old fogeys come to walk and admire the countryside, but if there’s a whole lot of loving going on we might as well tell the world about it.
Posts Tagged ‘LHA’
Thursday, April 14th, 2011
The Lakes- The Romantic Heart of England
Thursday, April 7th, 2011
Japanese Tsunami Charity Cruise
Those of us who earn our living from visitors to the Lakes rarely get the chance to do the things which the visitors come her to do- such as take a cruise on Lake Windermere (and before pedants start foaming at the mouth because I’ve used the word “lake” before “Windermere”, yes I do know that mere means lake, and no, I don’t think it’s tautologous).
Tonight we had the chance to enjoy what the tourists enjoy and there couldn’t have been a better evening for it. The occasion was a fund-raising event organised by the Lakes Hospitality Association in aid of the Japanese Tsunami victims. It was rather ironic that the weather conditions tonight couldn’t have been more benign, with clear skies, and a warm breeze- and views to die for. Windermere Lake Cruises provided mv Swan free of charge, and a superb Japanese-style buffet was put on by Andrew Southcott. The Jazz band, Palladium, provided the music- very well indeed. This was a small gesture on our part to show our solidarity with our Japanese friends and it was one which came from the heart.
Monday, April 4th, 2011
Windermere Tourist Information Centre- The LHA Takes Over
In the space of quarter of an hour today I spoke to couples from Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, China and Japan and one gentleman from London. They had all popped into the Tourist Information Centre in Windermere and all agreed without demure to have their photos taken by our local newspapers and to be filmed for ITV news.
The media were there for the re-opening of the TiC under the auspices of the Lakes Hospitality Association who have taken over the running of it from the local council. It’s a role which we have taken on reluctantly, but we had no choice because the local government funding has been slashed and there was a real chance that it would close for good. I found myself giving a whole series of interviews for TV, radio and the press, telling them that when as many as 1,200 people visit a TiC in one single day there could be no possibility of us allowing it to close down. It’s been chucking it down today and no doubt some of the visitors came in to get out of the rain. There was a similar spell of bad weather last year, after which they announced a drought and a hose pipe ban which lasted for three months, during which the rain never let up. Let’s hope for better this year.
Friday, March 11th, 2011
The Big Society in a Big Tent
I’ve no more idea than the next person what the Big Society is but there may be a hint of it in this Big Tent. The tent has been the home for the last few days of the Best of Lakeland Show, put on by the Lakes Hospitality Association. It’s a trade show for hoteliers, restaurateurs and the like and has attracted hundreds of visitors. It’s in a new venue, right in the heart of Bowness. I went round all the trade stands this morning, speaking to the exhibitors and they all spoke enthusiastically about the success of the show. Last night there was a highly successful dinner for 100.
The reason that I mention the Big Society is that this event has been organised by just one part-timer, Gail Bartolf and her part-time assistant Rebecca. They have sourced the new venue, got the council’s consent, obtained planning permission from the National Park Authority, organised power, catering, toilets, stewards, car parking, signage, the dinner, advertising, sold the stands, etc., etc.,. They are the only employees of the LHA and have carried out all their other duties for its 550 members at the same time as organising the show.
If this had been a public body, relying on public funds, I’ve no doubt at all that the same work would have required at least a dozen full timers on vast salaries. Those salaries would have been paid for by you and me. If this is the Big Society, let’s have more of it.
Wednesday, November 10th, 2010
The Big Society in Action
BBC Radio Cumbria rang to tell me that the winner of the bid to run the Windermere Tourist Information Centre would be announced on the 7am news. Would I be available to give an interview live, straight after the announcement, to give my comments on behalf of the Lakes Hospitality Association- who were one of the 19 bidders to run the TiC? The BBC knew the identity of the winners, but I didn’t, and they weren’t at liberty to tell me. I would have to wait for the news bulletin. I knew that we were one of the three finalists, but although we have put our hearts and souls into this project and really wanted to win, we knew the other finalists were strong contenders, so we couldn’t be confident of success. What could I read into the invitation to be interviewed? Had all the candidates been invited? To be on the safe side I made a mental note of “winner” and “loser” comments. It would have been sensible of me to turn off my mobile, because I was live on air when someone who had been listening to the news headlines rang to congratulate me. It was a great relief to be able to use my “winner” comments. The Windermere TiC is the busiest in the Lakes with 300,000 visitors a year. From next April the LHA will take over the running of it from the District Council in a public/private partnership- very much the Big Society of which we have been hearing so much, and which we will now see in action. This is a big step forward for the LHAand, if the truth be told, rather daunting. We’ve been campaigning for so long to keep it open and now we really have to put our money where our mouth is.
Thursday, April 15th, 2010
Lakes Hospitality Association AGM
We are often asked what is the point of the Lakes Hospitality Association, when the tourism industry is already represented by Cumbria Tourism. There are many reasons, not least that the LHA is independent, doesn’t rely on public funds for its existence and can therefore feel free to speak out on any issue without fear of its funding being withdrawn. But the main reason is that a little bit of competition is good for the soul, it keeps people on their toes and counteracts complacency. Today we reviewed the very long list of the LHA’s achievements over the last year, and one of these was the TV advertising campaign which we undertook to try to counter the sharp decline in trade after the floods. The LHA were first off the mark with a series of TV ads, which were 20 seconds long and used professional film. The ads were designed to capitalise on “The Lakes”, which was shown in between episodes of Coronation Street. A similar, but greatly inferior TV ad from Cumbria Tourism followed ours. The CT ad was only 10 seconds long and used still photography and didn’t really hit the mark. I think it’s fair to say that if it wasn’t for our campaign there would have been a general feeling that TV advertising just isn’t viable. The underdog can often win, which is why I’m such a keen supporter of the LHA. And, at the successful, if low-key AGM, I was proud to be re-elected its Chairman.
Wednesday, April 14th, 2010
Bob McGie Lunch- Kendal College
At lunch today I bought ten ducks which will take part in the annual duck race in Kendal later this year (watch this space) to raise money for the Bob McGie award. This is testimony to the vast amount of alcohol we were given (Champagne to begin with and then a different wine with each course) with our lunch, which was prepared and served by the students of Kendal College. It is one of the best hospitality events of the year. The money raised by the ducks, the lunch and other events sponsors students from the college on trips abroad to widen their horizons and give them the chance to learn about food in another country. This year, trips are being sponsored to Portugal, Dubai and New Zealand. Tony Jackson from Lakeland Vintners, who has supplied the wine to my hotels for nearly 20 years, which in itself shows what a great guy he is, generously donated the wine.
Wednesday, March 17th, 2010
Best of Lakeland Show
How Gail got away with putting live pigs next door to the Cumberland sausage stand I’ll never know. But it was fun watching people tasting the free samples of sausage under the pleading eyes of the little pigs. The Food Marquee of the Lakes Hospitality Association “Best of Lakeland” Show also contained a pen of llamas, who formed part of the appreciative audience for a cooking display by the Malmaison Hotel Head Chef.
Gail and I gave several interviews in the morning for Radio, TV and the local newspapers in our capacities as Secretary and Chairman of the Association. We were later taken to task by someone who objected to us referring to Windermere as ‘Lake Windermere’. The argument is that ‘mere’ means lake, so it is tautologous to use the word lake when referring to Windermere. My reply is that I’d go for clarity over pedantry any day.
Tuesday, January 26th, 2010
A Black Swan on Lake Windermere
A Black Swan is the term which economists use to describe a unexpected and devastating event which scuppers all your plans. The Lake District had its own Black Swan in November when the unprecedented rainfall caused unprecedented floods which frightened away all our tourist trade. This was followed by a family of Black Cygnets when 5 successive snowfalls over as many weeks made certain that the tourists wouldn’t or couldn’t come flooding back.
Some lateral thinking was needed if our businesses were to be saved. We hit upon the idea of ‘Super Sundays’ where hotels would give away their rooms for next to nothing on the first four Sundays of the year. We put the idea to our colleagues and they loved it. So did the public. As soon as ‘Super Sundays’ went public more than 1000 room nights were sold. The idea also caught the imagination of the local TV and the national press. This video is of me being interviewed about Super Sundays for the ITV news and the item was shown on the 6 o’clock news and again at 10.30.
Monday, November 23rd, 2009
Lakes Hospitality Association Interiors Show
When the water level on Lake Windermere rose by 9ft on Friday, closing the roads to Ambleside, there seemed to be little prospect of opening the Interiors Show at the Low Wood Hotel on the shores of the Lake as planned on the Monday morning. Cancellation would have been disastrous for Lakes Hospitality as the Show is one of the two big money events of the year. But nothing fazes Gail, the Show’s indefatigable organisor and when the roads re-opened over the weekend she declared “Business as usual”. All the exhibitors made it, but we had the bizarre experience of hearing the event being trailed on the local radio news only for the traffic bulletin which followed the news advising people not to travel to the Lakes because of the weather.
I was pleased to see Ian Steel at the J. Atkinson and Son stand, not least because he was generously supplying everyone with free cups of his excellent Java and Elephant coffees. Ian was in jubilant spirits, holding aloft a copy of the Independent, in which his coffee shop (founded as the Grasshopper Tea Warehouse in 1837) had just been named as one of the best 50 food shops in the country. Here’s the link- http://www.independent.co.uk/extras/indybest/food-drink/the-50-best-food-shops-1823609.html?action=Popup&ino=39. I got chatting to Ian about my “Do One Thing” campaign and he told me about his brilliant “one fell scoop” idea. The way it works is that instead of supplying coffee to his commercial customers in individual sachets, he supplies it in bulk together with a scoop which measures out the quantity which would have been in the sachet. This saves him a fortune in the time saved by not having to fill the sachets and the cost of the sachets themselves. All his customers love it and he has the added satisfaction of saving the world into the bargain. Very Slow Life.