The much-loved Lake District is one of England’s finest tourism destinations and has global appeal, however, there has been static demand and competition from other international and national destinations is fierce.

The Lake District needs a collaborative approach by all partners, public and private sector to ensure that the vision for the Lake District to become the premier National Park in Europe is to be achieved.

The Lake District Economic Futures study sought to identify the key issues for the economic future of the National Park and the wider Lake District area, and provide detailed recommendations for policy change to successfully address the challenges that the area will face in the next 20 years.

NWDA and Cumbria Tourism are working with the Lake District National Park Authority to develop initiatives to improve access, visitor information and facilities within the National Park.  A Sustainable Transport framework was commissioned in 2008 which aimed to provide evidence and analysis about the current challenges of transport in the National Park, identify opportunities and constraints, and examine what can be learnt from good practice elsewhere.