A Walk In The Park
The beauty of the ancient English countryside was on display this week as VisitBritain and The English National Park Experience Collection hosted a group of travel trade personnel for a scone making experience and presentation at The Glenerin Inn & Spa in Mississauga.
The English National Park Experience Collection, launched in March, offers “visitor experiences in exceptional landscapes,” each carefully selected, developed and curated to tell the stories of England’s National Parks and their people. More than 70 experiences and a range of accommodation options (from hotels and cottages to farmhouse stays) are available across nine parks (including one just an hour’s drive from London).
Chris Brant, project manager for The English National Park Experience Collection, said the experiences feature the best of the English countryside and are “full of life,” offering visitors a chance to “meet the locals, those that live and work the land.”
He said five key elements make up each experience: the story, good food and drink, the unexpected (surprise elements such as special access to areas where the general public can’t go), the expected, and flexibility — journeys “through the history, culture, countryside and communities in the best of England’s outdoors”
Sample experiences include Live Like A Roman, Boats, Boots & Marmalade, Walking in the Footsteps of Wainwright, Pub Safari, Fish & Ships (where guests actually go fishing and then eat their catch (fish and chips) on the beach, Rails, Trails & Sails, Old English Rural Life and Wild Ponies, Wild Land.
In the photos:
Pictured (top photo) at the event are (l-r) Deborah Brookes of The English National Park Experience Collection, Natalie Szubert of VisitBritain (Canada), Lynda Falcone of VisitBritain (Canada), Tara Didi of VisitBritain (New York) and Brant.
In the second photo are Stephanie Bishop of the Globus family of brands, and Jennifer Backus of Air Canada.
