BECCLES Lido and Lowestoft Maritime Museum were the winners at the Waveney Tourism Forum’s annual tourism conference and awards event, held this year at Pleasurewood Hills.

The lido team were recognised for their success in transforming the open air swimming pool into a successful attraction for visitors and the local community, and the museum supporters for their dedication in developing an attraction which preserves the town’s maritime heritage.

Tourism is worth �255million a year to the district’s economy and supplies around 12.8% of local jobs.

Forum chairman Bernard Read, from Heathland Beach Caravan Park, and vice-chair Kirsty Chapman, operations manager at Africa-Alive. welcomed members to the event and provided a review of tourism in Waveney through 2011.

Mr Reader said that despite the economy and indifferent weather conditions many establishments had reported having a successful year.

The conference was also told to be prepared for 2012, with the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Beacons and the Olympic Torch route travelling visiting Lowestoft, Wrentham, Reydon and Southwold on July 5, 2012.

Guest speaker Keith Brown, chief executive of Visit East Anglia, gave an overview of tourism nationally and went through the changes which have taken place over the last year and the role that Visit East Anglia will play in the future.

Asa Morrison, Waveney’s principal service manager for culture, tourism and sport, spoke about the local challenges that tourism delivery in the area faces and the ways in which theses can be tackled.

Members of the forum were also asked to think about other destinations they may wish to partner with in the future.

The forum then received a round up of activity from each of its town tourism groups, with the event concluding with the announcement of the award winners.

Mr Reader said: “The conference was a great success and highlighted the strong partnership working taking place to develop Waveney’s tourism industry. Despite the current economic situation, 2012 has many positives especially with the 2012 Olympic Games and the opportunities that presents”.