A visit from the CEO of Visit England

On Monday 15th April 2024, we were delighted to welcome some of the most influential figures in English tourism aboard for a perfectly breezy River Exe Cruise.

Over the course of the past week, we have received the utterly brilliant news that Devon has been awarded a Local Visitor Economy Partnership (LVEP), putting our glorious county very firmly on the world map for both domestic and international visitors.

The LVEP scheme is one of the Government’s key recommendations, in response to the de Bois Review of destination management and aims to transform England’s visitor economy landscape, through a new and robust structure – sharing resources, priorities and targets. Ultimately, the de Bois Review highlighted the fragmentation of destination management and Devon was specifically named in the report as one of the counties which needs particular attention. Counties across England have been required to apply for the LVEP accreditation, via a lengthy and highly complex process and we could not be more delighted that Devon and Partners were successfully welcomed to the programme alongside 32 existing members from other counties, this month. This means that Devon will be included in many exciting events, familiarisation visits for inbound visitors, international itineraries and so much more. It really is big news and it simply wasn’t an option for us not to be included.

We have many exceptional businesses, organisations and individuals to thank for this, not least Visit Devon and in particular, Vince Flower (Chair of Visit Devon) and Sally Everton, also of Visit Devon. Both Sally and Vince, alongside others, work tirelessly to ensure that Devon is recognised as one of England’s best destinations for visitors from across the globe and we are incredibly grateful to them for their efforts and indeed for inviting us to submit our letter of support for the scheme.

Jake, Philippa, myself and the team feel truly humbled to have been selected as one of only two attractions in Devon, to the the CEO of Visit England, Andrew Stokes OBE, Chair of Visit England, Lady Victoria Borwick, Visit England Director for the South West, Robin Tjolle, Chair of Visit Devon, Vince Flower and Director of Visit Devon, Sally Everton on board on Monday and what better way to celebrate this recent news?

This felt like a real ‘pinch me’ moment and for me personally, a real highlight of my career with Stuart Line Cruises so far. The future is incredibly bright and we have got big dreams.