East Anglia: Stansted Tourism Forum aims to boost inbound leisure and business travel

The Stansted Tourism Forum brings together tourism sector representatives from across the eastern region, including Visit East Anglia, which covers Suffolk and Norfolk, as well as Stansted Airport and regional train operator Abellio Greater Anglia.

One of the first areas of focus will be the business conference market, using Stansted’s inbound flight connections to create packages whichinclude travel, conference venues across the region and tourist attraction add-ons.

Packages are also planned for relatives of the large overseas student populations close to Stansted who want to arrange short or long-term visits.

Andrew Harrison, managing director at Stansted Airport, said: “Stansted plays a very important role linking this region to over 160 direct scheduled connections across 30 countries that are vital for business and leisure passengers, but we also need to give better support to the inbound travel market.

“We have ambitious plans to attract more airlines and offer even more choice of routes so I’m very excited to be involved with the new Stansted Tourism Forum that has a clear focus on boosting the inbound travel market to the region and helping maximise the full potential of this dynamic and exciting part of the UK.”

Keith Brown, chief executive at Visit East Anglia, added: “We’re delighted to work in partnership with Stansted Airport to help grow the visitor economy across the region and hope this initiative will make the airport even more attractive to the inbound market and support Stansted’s efforts to secure new airlines and routes.

“Overseas visitors generally stay longer, putting more into the economy, and with East Anglia’s offer of unrivalled tourism experiences, from world class cities and towns to the best of the English countryside, together with the investment taking place to improve services and facilities at Stansted, this is going to be a powerful combination.”