Businesses involved in Derbyshire’s tourism industry are set to benefit from a £1.2 million cash injection from Europe.
Marketing Peak District & Derbyshire has been awarded the funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) to extend a business support programme until 2022.
The Growing and Developing the Visitor Economy Within Derbyshire project (Phase One) ran from 2016 to 2019 and delivered £1.3 million of business support to more than 700 small and medium enterprises in the area.
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Now, the new scheme, called Delivering a World Class Visitor Economy Within Derbyshire, aims to improve the quality and profitability of tourism.
Jo Dilley, managing director at Marketing Peak District & Derbyshire, said: “Following the success of Phase One we are looking forward to working closely with our partners over the next three years to achieve more great benefits for the local economy in Phase Two.
“The Peak District and Derbyshire’s tourism industry is worth over £2.15 billion, attracting 40.45 million visitors each year and supporting over 28,000 jobs.
“The aims of the project are to drive up the quality and profitability of visitor economy businesses in the area, make the most of emerging international opportunities, and support small to medium-sized businesses though initiatives specifically geared to create more prosperity in this valuable industry.”
Around 200 businesses are expected to benefit from the latest phase of the project, which will be launched in the coming months and will run until March 2022.
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It will provide a programme of business support workshops, networking opportunities and a series of small grants ranging from £1,000 to £10,000.
Key themes will include workforce development, extending the tourist season, international tourism, accessible tourism and green tourism – with the overall aim of supporting businesses in the visitor economy to grow in regional, national and international markets.
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Councillor Tony King, Derbyshire County Council’s cabinet member for economic development and regeneration, said: “Supporting local businesses to start, thrive and survive is one of our key priorities.
“This funding is enormously valuable and will help provide much needed, tailor-made business support to the tourism sector in Derbyshire.
“It will also support our wider efforts to create more jobs, encourage visitors to stay longer and maintain our county’s reputation as a national and international tourist destination.”