Farron meets with TripAdvisor to promote South Lakes tourism

South lakes MP Tim Farron met this week with representatives from the world's largest travel advice website, TripAdvisor, to discuss how tourism in Cumbria can benefit from free travel advice websites.

The meeting came hot on the heels of recent success in TripAdvisor's travel awards, in which Riverside Bed & Breakfast in Ambleside won third place for Best Bed & Breakfast in the world. With over 700 tourism based businesses in Westmorland and Lonsdale, the majority of them small and locally run, free travel advice websites are a cost-free means of promotion.

The web is fast becoming the first port of call for people looking for a holiday, as the number of people reviewing their holiday stays grows. Now that businesses can respond to those reviews through websites like TripAdvisor, as well as being able to link reviews directly to booking websites, the benefits of being registered are considerable.

Commenting, Tim said "Websites like TripAdvisor are great news for South Lakes. If you're a small B&B in Sedbergh for example, all it takes is 5 minutes to register and you've publicised your business worldwide. People visiting the lakes get an unbiased view of the best places to stay before they go and the chance to have their say afterwards. Having all that advice in one place is invaluable for people looking for the best experience as well as for the businesses who are looking to advertise their services.

"I'm encouraging all our fantastic tourism businesses - however large or small - to get involved with the conversation on the web by registering with sites like TripAdvisor and Google places. Having a small marketing budget is no longer a barrier because a great trip speaks for itself."