A new and inspiring publication featuring 30 rural tourism experiences has been produced to attract new visitors to the area in 2015. Conservative-controlled West Somerset Council has worked with partners to produce ‘Somerset and Exmoor Great Escapes’.
It will initially be distributed with January’s issue of BBC Countryfile Magazine to reach out to thousands of potential new visitors that already have a love of great countryside experiences.
The guide includes a range of ideas to encourage breaks in Somerset and Exmoor, from staying in character accommodation and observing starling murmurations on the Somerset Levels to indulging in gourmet local food, walking in a poet's footsteps and experiencing Exmoor’s International Dark Sky Reserve.
Cllr Karen Mills, Cabinet Member for Economic Development at West Somerset Council, said: “This is a fantastic new publication that serves to tease the reader with snippets of some the best experiences the area has to offer. Many visitors are on the lookout for something new and different when they go away and this publication offers them just that. What’s more it is being used to target potential visitors that fit with some of the area’s key traditional target markets via the Countryfile magazine.”
Exmoor National Park Authority, Somerset County Council, Sedgemoor District Council and West Somerset Council secured funding via the EU Interreg funded COOL Tourism Project. Together they commissioned the sustainable tourism marketing agency Greentraveller to produce the publication, drawing on its team of professional travel writers and designers to showcase the whole of Exmoor and Somerset as a world class, innovative visitor destination to a national audience.
The partners identified over 100 local businesses that offer products and services that support these iconic experiences; including accommodation providers, guided tours, food and drink providers, transport services, etc.
Cllr Mills added: “Another exciting element of this project is that it is being promoted in a variety of ways. Both the experiences and supporting businesses are being promoted via new bespoke content and a video on Greentraveller’s national green holidays website, on Visit Somerset, as well as through Visit Exmoor’s website and their exciting new Top Experiences section, which I recommend checking out.”
The author of the supplement, Greentraveller’s Paul Bloomfield, said: “Somerset and Exmoor is a land of castles and cliff tops, of charming hamlets and wild moors, of clean air and burbling brooks, of starling murmurations and stags roaring. It’s where farms produce fabulously fresh food – and restaurants and pubs dish it up. In short, this is the English countryside par excellence – and the perfect destination for a great escape, whether it’s for a day ambling one of the well-marked footpaths or a week exploring the byways and villages.
“This guide brings together over 100 business that support a range of inspiring experiences across the region, promising a treat for everyone, whether your interests are astronomy or gastronomy, activities or festivities.”
Websites promoting rural tourism in Somerset and Exmoor are:
www.visit-exmoor.co.uk/escapes
www.visitsomerset.co.uk/escapes
www.greentraveller.co.uk/greatescapes