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.