Bath Tourism Plus, the destination marketing organisation for Bath and the surrounding area, is joining the rest of the country as the tourism industry gears up to celebrate English Tourism Week.

The week-long celebration, which runs from Saturday 10th to Sunday 18th March is designed to raise the profile of the tourism industry and its importance as one of the country’s largest employers .

According to the Value of Tourism 2010 Report, compiled by South West Tourism Research Company, more than 8000 people in Bath & North East Somerset are in tourism related jobs, and visitors spend more than £373m annually in the area.

With so many iconic events happening in 2012, including the London Olympic and Paralympic Games, The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, Torch Relay and Cultural Olympiad events, there has never been a bigger opportunity to showcase the industry.  And with Bath playing host to a range of Olympic, Paralympic and Jubilee related events, English Tourism Week provides a great opportunity for the local industry to raise their profile – and for locals to feel proud of their city.

Chief Executive of Bath Tourism Plus, Nick Brooks-Sykes says: ‘Bath is an extremely welcoming city, which thrives on its visitor economy.  More than 8000 people are employed in the tourism sector in Bath – around 10% of all jobs, so it is vitally important that we continue to support the industry and work together to grow the value of the visitor economy in Bath & North East Somerset. 2012 presents a massive opportunity to showcase our city to a worldwide audience. We need to work hard to ensure that when visitors choose come to the UK, they also choose to come to Bath.’

Head of Marketing David Jackson adds: ‘Sometimes it’s the small things that make or break a visitor’s experience.  Everyone can make a difference – visitors are the life blood of this city, and we want them to return again and again.’

Nationally, English Tourism Week is being celebrated with a whole range of activities running throughout the week including offers, discounts and special events .  The tourism sector will also see a boost by a major advertising campaign, including a TV advert launching on Thursday 8th March.  Enjoy England’s “Holidays at home are GREAT” campaign will be the biggest ever domestic marketing campaign launched in the UK.

The celebrations in Bath will focus around the newly refurbished Bath Information Centre in Kingston Parade/Abbey Churchyard, which will be officially opened by the Minister for Tourism, John Penrose MP on Monday 12th March. The re-opening sees the Information Centre amalgamated with the Bath Box Office, with the aim of improving the visitor experience and easing cross-selling between the two organisations and therefore more effectively supporting tourism businesses.

Staff at the Information Centre are also inviting people to get involved in English Tourism Week, by offering free workshops to highlight just some of what the area’s tourism industry has to offer.  Why not come into the centre to see the new-look facilities for yourself and take part in workshops such as:

  Lavender bag making with Somerset Lavender
  Wine tasting with Quoins Vineyard
  Sally Lunn’s Bun sampling
  Bath Bun sampling
  Tea tasting with Tea Monkey
  Dough-making with Bertinet Kitchen
  Food/drink sampling with Green Park Brasserie
  Massage treatments with Hands on Health
  Food sampling of TIC retail products (biscuits, jams and chutneys etc)
  Bath quiz with prizes to be won

If you aren’t able to visit the centre, you can still get involved through social media – follow @visitbath on Twitter or ‘like’ the Visit Bath Facebook page for updates throughout the week, and the chance to win some fabulous prizes.