Last month a delegation of Cumbria’s tourism businesses visited Australia as part of VisitBritain Travel Trade Mission. Jennifer Cormack, Sales and Marketing Director of Windermere Lake Cruises, kept a diary of the whirlwind trip...

Jennifer says: "Before the trip

Really looking forward to the Australia sales mission. There’s a huge appetite and VisitBritain has over 500 agents ready to meet us. It starts on Sunday, but we’ve been advised to arrive a few days early to get over jet lag and be ready for a busy and intense time. We’ll visit three cities. I’m missing both my daughters first day back at school and my youngest’s 11th birthday – so I’m in the doghouse with the kids!

Saturday, Sept 7

After a mammoth flight from Heathrow to Sydney via Singapore – a leisure day to get my body clock on Australia time! Some sightseeing with travel trade friends and great to meet the VisitBritain team in a casual environment along with other delegates.

Sunday, Sept 8

Official start of the event. Registration, and then a visit to the British Consulate in Brisbane, also the offices for Visit Britain (VB). Their office view in Sydney rivals ours on Windermere! Great to hear from the VB team with insights and stats about Australian travellers. 1.2 million Australian visitors came to UK in 2023 spending £1.6billion. The ambition is by 2026 the spend will increase to £2bn.

Monday, Sept 9

Start of one to one meetings, with just nine minutes to both sell Windermere Lake Cruises, the Lakeland Motor Museum and mention many of the other attractions and hotels we work with.

After a full day of meetings, I can already feel the appetite for the UK and especially our region. Many operators say first time visitors to UK tend to only explore London so they are really appreciating hearing all about the Lake District and Cumbria. There are five businesses from Cumbria here - having so many on a mission really does have a great impact.

After a quick freshen up we walked to the Sydney Opera House for the Gala Event. Such a stunning venue with chance to network further with the buyers, airlines and other travel businesses.

Tuesday, Sept 10

Full morning of presentations which gave a great insight into the Australian market and how best we can work together. Keynote address –Haydn Long, Global PR Director Flight Centre Travel Group.

After lunch - a networking cruise around Sydney Harbour – a great opportunity to talk with more operators and get to see the sights of Sydney from the water.

At 5pm, the evening meetings start, two sets of 14, eight- minute meetings. Sometimes I had four or five different agents at my desk, it was crazy and lots of information given. Meetings finished at 9:30pm then prize giving and speeches from sponsors. Wakeup call set for 5 am ready for a 6am departure the next day. Sydney done!

Wednesday, Sept 11

Flight to Melbourne where we have only 20 hours! Straight to the hotel and into a networking lunch with the Melbourne Consul-General (who was from Liverpool). With no time to check in, we all had to do a quick change in the toilets, changing from flight outfits to work attire. Then one to one eight-minute speed meeting session. After a quick check in and clothing change we were back to work at 5pm for the evening event – again a brilliantly busy evening and finished at 10pm. An early night as tomorrow we fly to Brisbane.

Thursday, Sept 12

Flight to Brisbane, the final leg of our journey. Got to our hotel at 1:30pm. Unable to check in, we had a networking lunch before getting our rooms and preparing for yet another afternoon and evening of agent meetings. With a two- hour window, some of us managed to get an hour by the pool in the sunshine! A 10pm finish and some of the VB team wanted to show (those of us who were willing) some of the local bars in Brisbane!

Friday, Sept 13

Last day of the mission and final set of speed meetings with Tour Operator. What a day! Great meetings, real positivity and we went out on a high. One operator has already agreed to include us in a tour she is leading in January! I think that’s the quickest booking from an event I’ve ever had!

After farewell drinks with the VB team, that was a wrap!

Saturday, Sept 14

Farewell breakfast with the delegates who were departing, laughing and reminiscing on the last week. The camaraderie from other delegates has been amazing, some were already friends, other I have not met before will be friends for life. You do get to know the delegates well on these trips and form very close friendships as although it’s intense and very hard work, we have fun and laughs along the way.

An epic trip, a great sales mission and a well-deserved little holiday at the end. Looking forward to seeing my girls back at home!

*The other Cumbrian delegates were

Stacey McShane from World of Beatrix Potter Attraction, Joe Cobb from Lake District Country Hotels, Francine Bult from Cumbria Tourism & Karen Maher from Lakeside and Haverthwaite Railway.