Cumbria looks to attract more conferences.

BUSINESS leaders in Cumbria are backing a drive to attract more corporate conferences to the county over the next two years.

The business tourism sector currently brings in an estimated pounds 120m a year but this is just a small percentage of the pounds 1.1bn brought in overall by tourism in Cumbria.

The county now wants to gain a greater slice of the market and raise its profile as a destination for conferences and meetings and the Carlisle and Cumbria Conference Group has been launched to lead the push.

Marie Whitehead, director of the new Carlisle Tourism Partnership, said: "We think we have a place in the market because Cumbria offers something unique."

Initial plans include investing in a new business tourism website, improving marketing, attending major national trade events and introducing a scheme which will guarantee that all those offering conferences and meetings meet a high standard.

Meanwhile, plans for a pounds 4m convention centre in the Lake District have been revealed by English Lakes Hotels which wants to build the centre at its Low Wood Hotel on the shores of Lake Windermere.

Planning permission for a 600-seat venue was originally granted in 2004 but English Lakes Hotels will now soon to apply for permission for a new design and to incorporate a number of environmentally friendly features. Tim Berry, a director of English Lakes Hotels, said: "We are strongly committed to ensuring this new building fits in with its location at the heart of the Lake District."

He said the building would echo the design of boat yards and was hoped to open as the Windermere Convention Centre in 2012.

Mr Berry said: "This new centre will enable us to bring national and international conferences. It will position the hotel, and the South Lakes as a major provider of a world-class conference and exhibition centre."