Saffron Walden MP and mayor add their support to English Tourism Week

Published: 4:08 PM March 15, 2013 Updated: 6:45 PM November 1, 2020

Sir Alan Haselhurst and mayor David Watson, with TIC duty managers Rachel Thomas and Mark Starte - Credit: Archant

SAFFRON Walden’s MP Sir Alan Haselhurst and mayor David Watson added their support to the launch of English Tourism Week by visiting the town’s award-winning Tourist Information Centre.

Tourism is essential to the economy, generating £97 billion each year, while the industry employs in excess of two million people and supports thousands of businesses, both directly and indirectly,

Mark Starte, a duty manager at the TIC, added that tourism has “an interdependent relationship with a range of sectors including farming, transport, retailing, sports, museums and the arts”.

English Tourism Week is a week-long celebration of events showcasing the quality and vibrancy of visitor experiences and the value the industry brings to the nation.

The spotlight has been turned on Saffron Walden in another way this week as it was named in The Sunday Times’ Top 10 Best Places to Live in the east of England.

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Rachel Thomas, also of the TIC, said: “It is not the first time the town has attracted this kind of positive, national publicity.

“It is particularly relevant in English Tourism Week that we receive the kind of news which fixes in the touring public’s minds the image of Saffron Walden as an attractive and vibrant destination with a wealth of cultural, recreational and retail opportunities.”