Windermere Lake Cruises makes latest Top Ten 'Paid For' attractions list
Published: 13th November 2020
New figures from VisitEngland which reveal Windermere Lake Cruises is again officially one of England’s most popular ‘paid for’ visitor attractions, reinforce the message that tourism plays a pivotal role in Cumbria’s economy.
The latest Annual Visitor Attractions Survey collated by the national tourism body reveals there were 1,613,785 passenger journeys on our now 17-strong fleet of ‘steamers’, modern launches and wooden launches during 2019.
The results see Windermere Lake Cruises ranked in fifth position nationally, ahead of iconic English attractions including Stonehenge and Westminster Abbey.
Furthermore, we are ranked as the second most popular ‘paid-for’ attraction in the North West region, with our sister-attraction the Lakeland Motor Museum ranked at number seventeen on the list.
Managing Director of Windermere Lake Cruises, Nigel Wilkinson, says: “Once again, we are very proud to feature on this list of truly world-class attractions. We believe a cruise on Windermere is a quintessential Lake District experience and this is borne out by another strong set of annual passenger figures from last year which place us in the top ten nationally yet again.
“However, it is important to remember that these figures are from 2019, before the tourism industry was hit by the Covid-19 pandemic. As a result, 2020’s passenger numbers will only be a fraction of what we saw last year, not only due to the lockdown periods, but also as a result of the adjustments we have had to make to operate in a Covid-Secure manner.
“Along with other businesses in the sector, we have developed a comprehensive recovery plan, as have other agencies in the county, and we look forward to playing our part in returning our industry to previous levels of activity, securing and hopefully increasing employment opportunities for our brilliant team and delivering economic benefit for our communities.”
For further details of the Annual Visitor Attractions Survey, see the VisitEngland website, here.
