Shrewsbury’s booming tourism industry is key to lifting the town from the nation’s longest and deepest recession, under a raft of proposals unveiled by civic leaders.
Plans are under way to make the town a top destination for rail trippers from South Wales – the first step in a project using tourism to create jobs and boost the local economy.
It comes as welcome news in a week when the gates at building firm Frank Galliers Ltd remained locked amid fears the company had ceased trading.
Shrewsbury’s growing reputation as a visitor honeypot was highlighted at the annual meeting of Shrewsbury Tourism Association – on the day that official figures revealed the UK had finally climbed out of the slump.
The packed meeting at the Lion Hotel on Tuesday heard that more than 4,000 people are directly or indirectly employed in tourism in Shrewsbury, with the town receiving three million visitors a year.
Association chairman Michael Connor said: “Tourism is our number one employer and the key to getting us out of recession.
“We are so lucky to live in Shrewsbury and yet we take so much for granted.”
Mr Connor said the beautiful countryside and uncluttered roads on Shrewsbury’s doorstep, its iconic architecture, good shops, friendly people, new theatre and football stadium and ‘more hours of sunshine than Brittany’ made it a wonderful destination.
He said the Wrexham & Shropshire Shrewsbury break offer of £99 for return rail fare from London and two nights B&B at the Lion or Prince Rupert hotels was already a runaway success.
“It’s only a pilot scheme, yet it’s brought in an extra £10,000 for the Lion – and all these people are spending money in our shops.
“And we are now in talks with Arriva Trains who are keen to do a similar scheme from South Wales.”
Councillor Mansel Williams said Ditherington Flax Mill, the original skyscraper, was Shrewsbury’s own ‘World Heritage Site’ and he believed it would be an international tourist attraction.
After the meeting, Simon Airey, president of Shrewsbury Business Chamber, said: “We’ve been lucky not to feel the recession as badly as many other towns, and our retailers are reporting a strong Christmas against all the odds.
“With events like the Shrewsbury Summer Season, flower show, street theatre and folk festivals, and the superb Theatre Severn, we have so much to offer.”
Shrewsbury MP Daniel Kawczynski said: “Tourism is so important and I would very much like to see a coordinated approach for the whole of Shropshire.
“We all need to work together to create ways in which we can keep visitors here for longer.”
By Peter Johnson
