TENBURY has had a good summer for tourism and plans are being prepared to see how more people can be attracted to the town.

“It has been a good year and a good summer has helped,” said Maggie Davies who chairs the Tenbury Tourism Group which runs the Tourist Information Centre in Teme Street that is now open all the year round.

She said that tourism in Tenbury is less seasonal than it used to be but that the major events, largely in the second half of the year, are very important.

Now a new blueprint is to be prepared to try to further increase the number of people visiting Tenbury.

This has been revealed by Tony Penn who represents the town on Malvern Hills District Council.

It follows a meeting involving more than 20 tourism representatives from across the area who met to update a plan of action.

The initiative is a recognition of the vital importance that tourism plays in the economy of Tenbury and the Teme Valley, bringing in millions of pounds each year and both creating and safeguarding jobs.

A key outcome is to encourage closer working together by the various tourism attractions in Tenbury and across the wider Malvern Hills district.

“More than 20 local tourism representatives attended a recent workshop to consider a ‘refresh and update’ of the objectives in our existing visitor economy action plan,” said Tony Penn.

“It was agreed that more can be achieved by working in partnership across the whole sector in the future.

“Progress was reviewed on the existing plan, key facts and figures were presented and factors affecting the sector now and in the future were highlighted.

“The feedback resulting from this meeting will be used to create a draft action plan for the next three years.”

A major initiative starts this month with a full programme of events linked to the Mistletoe season.

This is seen by Caroline Palethorpe, who is the main organiser of the Mistletoe Festival, as something that has the potential in the future to do for Tenbury what the food festival has done for Ludlow.

Mistletoe already brings visitors from all over the country and overseas into the town for the three annual sales held at the end of November and in early December. This year they will be held at Burford House Gardens.

A new music festival held in June on The Burgage took place for the second time this June and attracted people from all over the country with some of them staying in the town and surrounding area for a weekend.

Tenbury also has its own three-day beer festival in July at the Rose and Crown.

This is followed by the Tenbury Show which is staged on the first Saturday of every August and is the biggest single event of the year, bringing thousands of visitors in for one of the longest-established agricultural shows in the West Midlands.

In October, the town has its annual Applefest which is held over one day but also brings people into Tenbury.

The town has caravan parks as well as bed-and-breakfast businesses open throughout the year.

It has also broadened its appeal to visitors in the evening, including an expanded programme of shows at the Regal cinema since undergoing a major refurbishment four years ago.