PROMOTERS of tourism in East Hampshire are giving proposals for the new South Downs National Park, the thumbs up.
Following a meeting of the East Hampshire Tourism and Marketing PartnershipÕs steering committee, members have put forward their initial reactions to the proposed park.
The steering committeeÕs comments will be forwarded to the Countryside Agency during its period of public consultation which ends in February next year.
Members said they were in favour of the park because it would bring benefits to tourism-related businesses in East Hampshire.
They said it would be important to develop a partnership between East Hampshire and the new National Park Authority when it was set up:
ÒThe partnership must ensure that the interests of tourism-related businesses are looked after, including marketing support.Ó
The steering committee stressed that related businesses included visitor attractions and accommodation providers and added: ÒThe partnership should also ensure that the overall provision of visitor information to cover the national park as a whole is adequately resourced.Ó
Committee members also stressed that central government funding was vital to ensure sustainable tourism initiatives were developed and that transport systems could cope with increased visitor numbers.
The steering committee also commented that funding of visitor management would be crucial so that sensitive landscapes were not damaged and biodiversity was not compromised.