Local MP James Heappey has invited Visit Somerset, Somerset’s Tourism Association, to the House of Commons to showcase a possible UK first for tourism in Somerset. Ian Brodie MBE, the award winning author and photographer of international stature and author of Lord of the Rings and Hobbit Location Guide and Cameras in Narnia is designing, photographing and creating an e-book for Visit Somerset about Somerset's history, heritage, food and drink.
The Visit Somerset team, along with Ian Brodie MBE, will give a presentation on 19th October to six of Somerset's MPs, including event organiser James Heappey, Dr Liam Fox, Jacob Rees-Mogg, John Penrose, Rebecca Pow and David Warburton, showcasing the E-book of Somerset. The e-book will be a 148-page guide spanning the entire county of Somerset, from North East Somerset (Bath) right the way down to Exmoor, and across from Yeovil to Weston-super-Mare and North Somerset - every key area of the county will be covered.
John Turner CEO of Visit Somerset has said; "Somerset is currently going through the biggest re brand in its entire history and the work that Ian Brodie MBE is completing sits right at the for front of the rebranding exercise. Somerset's tourism & leisure economy is worth a staggering combined £1.3 Billion and 34,000 jobs. Much of leisure & tourism is linked to food & drink which is why we have begun to incorporate food and drink within our E book and overall strategy. The book will take people on a journey through Somerset's iconic history & heritage talking of such things as the foundations of European Christianity our famous food & drink brands Cheddar & Cider to our National Park Exmoor & the longest steam railway in the UK West Somerset railway. To our world famous music festival Glastonbury. Marketing is about ensuring that we are embracing all channels of communication and we believe that we now have possibly the most comprehensive digital platforms that will really help set Somerset apart. Embracing mobile and tablet device technology is the next big area of change in consumer behaviour and Somerset will now be well ahead of the curve."
James Heappey MP said:
I’m delighted to be able to bring Visit Somerset to the House of Commons to present what will be an amazing way to highlight our fantastic county and I am thrilled that Somerset will be the first in the UK to have this kind of technology used to promote tourism and heritage. This will be so much more immersive and interactive than anything that has gone before it and not only will we have a future-proofed piece of technology that millions of people will be able to download free, but we will also have a portfolio of cutting edge photography and detailed information that shows what a wonderful place this is to visit and live.