THE importance of tourism to the economy was Ludlow and south Shropshire was emphasised at an event at Stokesay Court to launch the new season.

More than 100 local tourism businesses turned out in force to swap leaflets and ideas at Stokesay Court to start the new tourism season off with a swing.

“This is an annual event for our Shropshire Hills tourism group, it’s a great opportunity for tourism businesses to find out about all the new attractions and activities for visitors, and make sure that they have stocks of leaflets for their guests,” said Paul Davis, chair of Shropshire Hills Tourism.

“This was a record-breaking turnout, probably because Caroline Magnus, kindly opened up Stokesay Court for the event.”

Exhibitors at the event showed the diversity of attractions that are available in the area to keep visitors and locals entertained from Acton Scott Historic Working Farm and Stokesay Castle to Ralph Janderell’s pottery, garden trips from Wisteria tours, Church Stretton's new town guide, information about Bishop's Castle town history tours to Ludlow’s many festivals, churches to visit and Kerry Vale Vineyard.

For the active there are many walks galore from the AONB and the Outdoor partnership team, cycle hire from Wheely Wonderful Cycling and horse-riding from Darky Dale Forest Stables.

This was one of many events throughout the country to celebrate English Tourism Week.

Tourism is a huge industry – bringing in £257 billion nationally, which is 10 per cent of GDP, supporting 3.8 million jobs.

It's big business in Shropshire; tourism is worth an estimated £539 million to Shropshire’s economy every year and supports nearly 15,000 jobs in the county.

The swap shop was organised with the help of Shropshire Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, which wants to encourage thoughtful and sustainable tourism in the area.

“If you are a tourism business and would like to join our group, we would be be very pleased to welcome you,” said Paul Davis.

“We hold regular events for our members, so that they can network with each other and take part in familiarisation visits to new attractions. We also hold training sessions and, of course, advertise the county through our website and social media activity.”