Ed’s on mission to boost Shropshire’s tourism industry

Ed Thomas was selected to head up Visit Shropshire’s team of voluntary board members in February.

And he’s excited for the future of the region as the group looks to unlock more of Shropshire’s potential.

“This was a good position for me to use to unleash some of my own creativity and add some value and give something back to the county,” he said.

“This is a great place and around every corner there’s something interesting, which I am keen for us to highlight.”

As Visit Shropshire looks to support the visitor and broader economy, Ed said discussions are regularly taking place, with campaigns planned.

“There are a few things we are looking at as an organisation,” he said. “For example, if someone is coming for a day trip, how do we get them to add a couple more hours or even turn a day trip into an overnight stay? How do we get them to turn a short break into a week?

“I think we can achieve that by telling a story, by reminding the people that are coming of all the great things that there are on offer here.

"We are really looking at business tourism, exhibitions and conferences too,” he added.

“We are looking at how, as part of Covid recovery, the appetite for getting together has grown again and it’s about investigating what capacity the county has got to support this.

“We believe there’s a bit of an untapped resource here. Some people think of a conference as for thousands of people but it can be for 30 people or it can be a business which has gone remote and want to bring their team together once every month.

"We have lots of venues that can accommodate 20-30 people with all the right facilities and we want to sell the county as a destination for business travel.

“Sustainability and accessibility will also by key for us. We want to prove Shropshire is open for everyone, from an inclusion point of view, showcasing attractions and places to visit and showing they are accessible.”