need to support them as much as we can – now’s the time to invite friends and family over to visit if they are located outside the county. Hotels and other accommodation providers are open and safe to stay in once again. VisitEngland’s campaign messaging is
Holkham Estate, pine trees
Confi dence is a big factor for everyone getting back to some sort of normality this summer says Melanie Cook of
VisitNorwich.co.uk
R
econnecting is the buzz word this summer and with venues, hospitality and attractions being
prepared and experienced in keeping us safe, we should feel confi dent in getting out to enjoy ourselves once again. Last month’s column was a
smorgasbord of things to do this summer, in fact I was tripping over my words with the excitement of writing about things actually happening. My inbox was and still is bursting with news about events, attractions, and ways to enjoy ourselves. So here we go. In May, VisitEngland launched their summer £5 million domestic tourism campaign Escape The Everyday. Domestic tourism spending is estimated this year to be worth £51.4 billion, just over half of the £91.6 billion in 2019. These are not surprising fi gures. As I said in last month’s column, the spotlight over the past year has been on discovering our own lands and VisitEngland’s message of course, is just that but with the added message of reconnection. Reconnecting with the places you love, reconnecting with loved ones and reconnecting with you. I talk endlessly about how lucky we
are in Norfolk to have such choice in how we spend our leisure time. We have incredible local food and drink, high quality attractions, a beautiful coastline, an abundance of natural
15 Photo: Benedicts, Norwich
about what we can escape to: “to new views with old friends; to scenes not screens; to eating out, not cooking in; to the summer you’ve waited for”. And we will all have a different idea of what this is. It can be as small or as big as we want – depending on our mood and pocket. Mine sometimes is as simple as sitting down quietly with a delicious latte from an independent coffee house and striking up a conversation with the barista – albeit behind a mask! I’ve mastered the art. You probably won’t be surprised how nourishing it is to chat with a stranger even if it’s about the weather. The pandemic has taught us that. So where can we escape to a view,
or a scene, to eat out and to enjoy summer? Many venues and attractions are still working hard on special events and putting things into place – for obvious reasons there is a lot of catching up to do so with that in mind I recommend you look at visitnorwich.
co.uk which is packed full of ideas. The City of Stories blog publishes weekly new posts each written to inspire us
spaces, the Broads, massive amounts of cultural experiences and our welcoming and walkable capital – Norwich, the City of Stories. We also have great people behind them, making places special, to have fun in, to relish and appreciate. People have struggled immensely through the pandemic to keep their businesses open or have had to close entirely, but they have still worked tirelessly to make sure they can come back when the time is right. So we
Tony Cragg at Houghton Hall. Photo: Melanie March
Photo: Bill Smith Norwich Cathedral & Cathedral of St John the Baptist
Out&About
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68
