Huge thanks to Cumbria Chamber of Commerce for helping me start up my sustainable tourism business for Japanese visitors to the Lakes back in January 2018, and for the wonderful aftercare since. When the Chamber interviewed me for a case study published on June 3, I had the opportunity not just to review what the Chamber has done for me, but to talk about what’s next for my business, in a world still struggling with Covid-19.
You’d be forgiven for asking what could possibly be next for a sustainable tour guide providing a service for Japanese visitors at a time when Japanese people are advised not to travel to the UK. Fortunately for me, more than you might think: I’m available to guide Staycationers holidaying in the UK this summer and I’m currently working with London-based Miki Travel Ltd to develop a virtual tour of Beatrix Potter’s Lake District for Japanese customers looking forward to coming again to the Lakes. It’s true that this is not the summer I had planned. Still, I’m glad to be doing my bit in my small way to welcome visitors back to Cumbria – wherever they’re coming from, and whether – for the time being – they can come at all.
