Focusing on rural growth

As part of its Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE), the Government and DEFRA (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) have earmarked £25m to support rural tourism. This will be done by promoting tourism in rural areas, supporting the development or rural tourism businesses, improve tourism in Areas of Outstanding Beauty, and support communication to develop local path networks.

Tourism in rural areas is worth more than £28bn and accounts for over 12% of total rural employment, which explains the Government’s drive to sustain and foster further growth in rural areas.

The £25m will be used in a variety of ways, with £12m invested by VisitEngland to promote rural tourism nationally in order to increase tourist numbers as well as spend; and £10m will be put into a fund within the RDPE Rural Economy Grant Scheme that will support local tourism initiatives, develop rural destinations and strengthen rural tourism businesses.

Another £2m will go to help local communities develop and improve their public rights of way and the remaining £1m will be used to set up a new sustainable rural tourism initiative in North East England.