Tourism in England has undergone major changes in recent years with the formation of Visit Britain in April 2003 to market Britain to the world and in 2009 Visit England, the national tourist board, was formed to promote and develop tourism within England. 

At a regional level, Northwest Regional Development Agency has the leading strategic role for tourism and is responsible for setting direction, allocating resources, managing relationships with, and supporting the Tourist Boards.

The Visitor Economy Commission, a forum of key experts from tourism and associated visitor sectors has replaced Tourism England's Northwest which was formed to support and promote the regional visitor economy.  Their role is to champion the cause of tourism and the visitor economy through advocacy within the region and at a national level.

The five tourist boards in England’s Northwest have a vital sub-regional strategic role in developing the visitor economy.  They lead on the delivery of the Strategy for Tourism in England’s Northwest through the Destination Management Plans and are directly responsible for destination marketing, research, business engagement and project delivery.

The five Tourist Boards are:

• Cumbria Tourism
• Lancashire and Blackpool Tourist Board
• The Mersey Partnership
• Visit Chester and Cheshire
• Visit Manchester