Peak boost for tourism and trade with Japan

Quality attractions, accommodation and things to see and do are a few of the subjects featured on the microsite, which has been created by tourist board Visit Peak District & Derbyshire.

Compiled to mark the fifteenth anniversary of twinning between Derbyshire County Council, Derby City Council, South Derbyshire District Council and Toyota City, developers are hopeful it will stimulate even stronger cultural and economic ties between the county, the wider Peak District tourism destination and Japan.

Information has been translated into Japanese by Takashi Hirata, of Toyota City Council’s international division, who has just spent six weeks in the county on a fact-finding mission to explore ways in which Derbyshire and Japan can work even more closely together.

The microsite was launched during a leaving presentation for Takashi Hirata at Derbyshire County Council’s Matlock headquarters on Friday, August 23.

David James, Chief Executive of Visit Peak District & Derbyshire, said: “Latest official figures from VisitBritain indicate that Japan is the eighth most valuable international market, yet only one per cent of visitors who came to Britain in 2012 were Japanese.

“Clearly there’s more that can be done to foster links that will bring both cultural and economic benefits for people and businesses across the area, and we are pleased to host this web page, which we hope will encourage even closer ties in the future.”

Cllr Joan Dixon, Derbyshire County Council Cabinet Member for Jobs, Economy and Transport, added: “Working to bring investment to Derbyshire and grow the economy is at the heart of everything we do and tourism plays a key role in that.”

To ses the new website visit www.visitpeakdistrict.com/japanese.