Discover St Neots and Discover Huntingdon are celebrating a hugely successful first Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Visitor Economy Conference, held at Peterborough Cathedral on Tuesday 29 September. The event drew tourism, hospitality, heritage and cultural organisations from across the region, and has generated an outpouring of positive feedback on LinkedIn in the days since.

Richard Slade of Discover St Neots and Paul Sweeney of BID Huntingdon, both members of the region’s Heritage and Tourism Working Group and official partners of the newly accredited Local Visitor Economy Partnership (LVEP), were part of the “Meet your Cambridgeshire & Peterborough LVEP” Q&A panel on the day, alongside fellow destination organisations from across the county.

“It was a genuinely inspiring day,” said Richard Slade. “To stand on that panel alongside colleagues from across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, in a room as remarkable as Peterborough Cathedral, and talk about what we’re building together for our towns, was a real moment for the Discover network. The response we’ve had since, from delegates and from people who weren’t even in the room, has told us this partnership is landing exactly as we hoped it would.”

Paul Sweeney, whose comment that “an LVEP is a shopfront for our area when it comes to enticing people in” was picked out as a highlight by several attendees on LinkedIn, added: “Conferences like this only work if the room is full of people who actually do the work the rest of the year, businesses, councils, attractions, all pulling in the same direction. Seeing that energy in the Q&A, and hearing it echoed back in the feedback since, is exactly why we started this.”

A special mention for Ramsey

Among those joining the conversation were colleagues from Ramsey Town Council, taking part as the town prepares to launch its own Discover Ramsey website and join St Neots and Huntingdon in the growing Discover Huntingdonshire network. Their presence on the day was warmly welcomed by the wider partnership.

“Having Ramsey in the room mattered,” said Richard Slade. “This network only works if it keeps growing, and seeing Ramsey there, ahead of their own site going live, shows the momentum behind it is real. We’re looking forward to welcoming them properly into the family very soon.”

Building on the day

The conference also heard from Paul Bristow, Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, Lyndsey Turner-Swift of VisitEngland, and representatives from Peterborough City Council, DCMS and Bedford Borough Council on the Universal Studios development, alongside the launch of the region’s new Destination Management Plan. Feedback shared publicly since the event has highlighted the strength of the speaker line-up, the setting at Peterborough Cathedral, and the sense of a region genuinely pulling together, Cambridge, Peterborough, Ely and Huntingdonshire alike, rather than competing for attention.

Mayor Paul Bristow said:

“This is the first time we’ve come together to celebrate the Local Visitor Economy Partnership, and it was encouraging to see partners discuss the steps needed to strengthen our region as a tourism destination. “The sector employs thousands of people and contributes £2.4 billion to our regional economy, and this event will be a springboard to building a thriving visitor economy together.”

Heritage and Tourism Project Manager, Charlotte Goy, said:

“The Conference was an opportunity to talk about the exciting progress being made across the Visitor Economy. “Together, we have laid strong foundations for the future, including the establishment of the regional LVEP, a five-year visitor economy strategy, a unifying visitor brand, and an emerging public-private sector LVEP Board.

Discover St Neots and Discover Huntingdon say the conference marks another step in a partnership that began with a conversation at the Huntingdonshire Pride in Place event in November 2024, and has since grown into a district-wide destination brand network and a formally accredited LVEP.