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£2m flood package as West Country declares it's open for tourists

A £2 million package to support tourism in areas affected by floods has been welcomed in places like Somerset, which is keen to show it is back on its feet

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Cheddar Gorge is unaffected by the floods

The package, announced by Maria Miller, the Culture Secretary, will include a marketing campaign aimed at domestic visitors in the run up to Easter and VisitEngland advice sessions for businesses.

While the water is receding and the storms have abated, tourism dependent areas such as Somerset and the West Country are facing an uphill struggle to convince visitors that they are open for business.

^Somerset is over a thousand square miles in size and the floods have affected three percent of it,^ said John Turner, the CEO of Visit Somerset, ^but the coverage makes it all sound like a disaster area.^

Despite being untouched by water, he said hotels, b&bs and popular attractions such as Wookey Hole, the West Somerset Railway and the Weston-super-Mare Pier are reporting half-term visitor figures as much as 25 per cent down on last year.

It^s not just Somerset. Television footage of the damaged railway line at Dawlish, part of First Great Western^s London to Penzance route, and headlines suggesting the South West was ^cut off^, are affecting the whole region in the crucial run up to the Easter holidays.

Maureen McAllister, who runs the SouthWestUK Twitter feed from Devon, said exasperated tourism businesses started to use the hashtag #openforbusiness two weeks ago, with numbers growing all the time. She said that while one bit of railway is cut off, ^we^ve had road and airport access throughout, and trains are running hourly to Exeter.^

East Lambrook Gardens, established by the pioneering gardener Margery Fish, are in South Petherton, five miles from the flood area. ^We^re fine, but for a tree down,^ said Mike Werkmeister, the owner. ^We opened for snowdrops as usual and about 300 visitors came. Last year we had over a thousand.^

Burcott Mill, a working flour mill and guesthouse just south of the Mendip Hills, also noticed a big drop in half-term business. ^We are technically on the edge of the Levels,^ said Louise French, who runs the mill with her husband, ^but we^re 25 miles from the floods. We^re fine. And all the things people come to see are fine: Wells Cathedral, the Bishop^s Palace, Cheddar Gorge, walking in the Mendips.^

Cheddar Gorge reports that even Gough Cave, their ^show cave^, which has flooded in the past, has been open every day as normal.

First Great Western confirmed that the track between Taunton and Bridgwater is still submerged, but said replacement buses are running to Bristol. A bus service is also running west from Exeter and Dawlish station is scheduled to reopen on Maundy Thursday, in time for the Easter weekend. The M5 and major roads west are open.

In the Levels proper, which occupy around 230 square miles, around 40 square miles suffered flooding. Local roads are reopening one by one and English Heritage says it is optimistic that Muchelney Abbey, which is still under water, will open again in time for Easter.

^I actually feel quite bullish,^ said Kit Chapman, who owns The Castle at Taunton, ^Somerset and the Levels have received so much publicity and they are usually ignored. It^s an extraordinarily beautiful area. I^m sure it^s a positive thing for our tourism long term.^

- But it's a very scary place to be in a storm.  :o Rainwater runs down through the gorge like a river, it would be very easy to start aquaplaning.  That happened to a couple travelling by car down towards Crackington Haven in the storm of 2007; a miracle their car didn't end up in the sea.  Anyway, good to see Somerset get some help to get back on its feet.

The whole area to the west of the immediate Home Counties has - and continues - to be effected and / or aftereffected by the winter's weather.   We - in Wiltshire - have taken questions about whether we're open / whether it's a problem to get to us, and cancellations because people don't want to risk it. And this stuff's as recent as the last few days. What we don't know / don't see is how many people have decided to leave their trips to later in the year, to go elsewhere, or simply to forego a trip.