February 11, 2015 1.10 pm This story is over 119 months old

Lincolnshire businesses going digital to boost tourism

Boosting tourism: Businesses and organisations came together to find out how they can boost their digital presence and increase Lincolnshire tourism.

As part of a mission to double Lincolnshire tourism by 2020, more than 150 people attended the Transforming Tourism 2015 conference in the city on February 11.

West Lindsey District Council (WLDC) organised the event at the Epic Centre in the Showground to bring the county together businesses and organisations to increase Lincolnshires tourism and economy.

Speakers included Susan Hallam, Managing Director at Hallam Internet Ltd, and James Berresford, Chief Executive of Visit England.

Wendy Osgodby, Tourism Manager at WLDC, said: “We organised this event as the visitor economy is a key sector in Lincolnshire and we want to help this sector grow and develop. It is all about helping individual businesses move forward.”

Susan Hallam spoke about how to transform business online, including how to use social media successfully; she said: “Businesses came to the event with the expectation that they wanted to improve their online marketing.

“The kind of topics that I covered were in terms of getting discovered in Google, improving your website and working with your email marketing. This gave the businesses practical steps that they can take when they go back to their offices.

“It’s exciting to come along to a conference like this. My expectation is that they go away and do something. I’d like to think that colleagues would be looking to see what they have done.

“They can be sharing best practice, they can show what it is that they’ve achieved and they will have practical results that they can measure that can make their businesses more successful.”

Lydia Rusling, Principal Development at Tourism and Visitor Economy for Lincolnshire County Council, added: “It is a celebration of everything Lincolnshire and tourism. We want to double tourism for the county by 2020.

“When we work together we are stronger; whether that is joining an initiative like Select Lincolnshire by promoting local food, or a tea room having a Magna Carta themed afternoon tea, and taking advantage of the investment that we have had in Lincoln Castle.”