New tourism officer appointed for Shrewsbury
A new tourism officer has been appointed by Shrewsbury Tourism Association to raise the profile of the town, attract more visitors and spending power.
The new appointment sees Beth Heath, organiser of Shrewsbury Food Festival, Shrewsbury Winter Festival and Shropshire Kids Festival take up the part-time post.
Speaking of the post, Beth said: "I have been organising festivals for what seems like ever and have built up lots of contacts in Shrewsbury, so it makes sense that I should be working with all the businesses in the town.
“I have lots of ideas of how to put Shrewsbury on the map and to shout about how fantastic the town is. Our aim is to increase footfall, increase the length of the tourist season and encourage people from other Shropshire towns to travel to Shrewsbury because they don’t tend to travel that much.
“I want to get out to tourism shows and other events across the country and attract more coaches to Shrewsbury. I am not expecting to achieve everything at once but at a minimum I want to get more visitors spending their money and supporting local businesses.
“I have a passion for Shrewsbury, as I think the town should be out there being yelled about. Businesses in Shrewsbury can expect to be encouraged by me to get involved in things and to become members. I want them to be talking to each other because you can’t make things great by yourself.
“Hopefully, I can encourage more partnerships and get people doing things together. I will be out there on the streets knocking on doors and not just sitting back and waiting to see what happens.”
STA chairman Michael Connor said the association was delighted to have appointed Beth as Shrewsbury tourism officer.
“A principal part of Beth’s activities will to be to attract more visitors to Shrewsbury, to consider the level of service given to visitors and to generate real benefits to businesses within the town,” he added.
