Councillor Kay Cutts, Leader at Nottinghamshire County Council, will welcome 150 delegates to a Summit to hear about the county’s plans to become a leading tourism destination. I will be one of the keynote speakers at the Nottinghamshire Tourism Summit at Rufford Mill where I will be joined by leading figures from the worlds of business, economic and visitor development, tourism and regeneration.
The Summit will highlight the County Council’s ten-plan to increase tourism by 20 per cent which in turn will create 2,900 jobs and boost the local economy by more than £240m. I am a proud resident of Nottinghamshire and I’d like the rest of the country to know just what this wonderful county has to offer in terms of our fascinating history and heritage, visitor attractions and spectacular nature reserves like Creswell Crags and Sherwood Forest.
Award winning Creswell Crags in Worksop is truly a hidden gem on our doorstep. The magnificent magnesian limestone gorge which is dotted with a large number of caves, fissures and rock shelters, harbours many secrets from our Prehistoric past. The siege of Newark Castle is a story that is not often told and the county’s involvement in the Civil War – it started in Nottingham and finished in Nottinghamshire – is a little-known fact.
Nottinghamshire also played a significant role in the journey of the Mayflower Pilgrims, one that is charted at the Mayflower Pilgrims Visitor Centre in Retford, and one that will be celebrated from this November with various events.
Of course, the Summit is being held in the grounds of Rufford Abbey Country Park, a venue that is regularly voted the county’s favourite free tourist attraction, and we will have delegates attending from the DH Lawrence Museum, Thoresby Hall and Lord Byron’s ancestral home Newstead Abbey. A few weeks ago we commemorated the D-Day Landings, and we in Nottinghamshire have our own World War Two sites that honour our war dead.
The county has numerous airfields and crash sites that pay homage to Nottinghamshire’s fallen. So, there is no doubt we have the history and heritage to rival any county and we need to shout about it. As well as these attractions and venues we have sporting venues that are the envy of the world, topped of course by the world-renowned Trent Bridge. And why are we holding this Summit?
Quite simply, we want to unlock the potential of the visitor economy and the benefits associated with tourism. We want to create jobs and opportunities for local people. By increasing visitors to Nottinghamshire we increase the need for jobs, thereby improving local people’s prospects and quality of life.
Collectively we can make a difference and I hope today’s Summit is start of a journey that truly sees Nottinghamshire on the regional, national and international tourism map.