ST HELENS Council has launched a new visitor strategy to promote St Helens as a vibrant centre for both local residents and visitors.

Council Chief Executive, Carole Hudson, who launched the St Helens Visitor Strategy on Tuesday (March 30), explained: "Tourism is a major and growing sector of the economy, in Merseyside alone £ billion was spent by overnight and day visitors in 1997 and there are 18,000 jobs dependant on tourism spending."

Key priorities are set in the strategy that will be delivered in a partnership between the Council, St Helens Chamber of Commerce, Training and Enterprise, Mersey Tourism and industry already based in the borough.

The town centre, with the visitor attraction of the World of Glass at its core, strongly linked through a prominent tourist information centre to a range of quality accommodation, places to eat, leisure and retail facilities.

The activity will be pulled together by a marketing strategy encompassing borough wide visitor activities and linked to the developing strategies for Merseyside and the North West. Carole added: "The visitor strategy will give St Helens the edge when it comes to getting ahead in such a competitive market. This is especially important when we see all the redevelopment going on, and of course this document will be particularly useful when bidding for funding."

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