Visitor Economy
As well as attracting visitors to Winchester district, Winchester City Council work closely with local tourism and hospitality businesses to offer tailored support and guidance through a variety of channels. Whether you are a visitor attraction, a restaurant, hotel or conference space, we can offer assistance, leadership, promotion and networking.
The best way to get the most out of our support is to join our partnership and marketing programme, where you will receive bespoke promotion and advertising. Our main aims are to raise awareness of the Winchester district and generate additional tourism visits and spend.
Local Visitor Economy Partnership (LVEP)
Winchester district is part of a newly formed Hampshire, Portsmouth and Southampton Local Visitor Economy Partnership (LVEP), which just received accreditation by VisitEngland.
This new LVEP paves the way for a strategic approach for developing and growing the visitor economy across the Solent and Hampshire geographies, aligned to the Isle of Wight LVEP, which was accredited in July 2023.
It puts Winchester at the national table with 40 other LVEPs across the country, to collaborate on activity that supports the visitor economy across the whole region, bid for new funding and share a wealth of information and resources with local businesses.
Tourism Strategy
Winchester City Council has appointed destination consultancy Blue Sail to review the visitor economy in Winchester and develop a new Tourism Strategy for the Winchester district. This comes at an important time for the district with a recently announced Local Visitor Economy Partnership for Hampshire.
There are lots of changes taking place in how tourism is managed nationally and regionally and doing this work will help clarify how and where Winchester can align with and benefit from these changes.
The work will also help to determine the long term vision for tourism across the Winchester district and the objectives and actions that need to be taken to help it thrive.
Find out how you can get involved in helping us to understand the experience, views, challenges and opportunities facing tourism businesses and visitors across the district
Partnership & Marketing programme
PR & Media
We are proud members of Discover Winchester, a consortium of private business and public agencies with an interest in the development and promotion of tourism in the Winchester district. It was established over 20 years ago in order to raise the national profile of the city and surroundings.
Liz Lean PR (LLPR) are the PR partner for Discover Winchester. LLPR is delivering a strategic communications strategy for the consortium to engage with target audiences through editorial coverage.
Press and media enquiries should be directed to discoverwinchester@lizleanpr.co.uk.
To stay up to date with Visit Winchester news, please sign up to receive our business newsletter.
Filming
Winchester is increasingly becoming a hot spot for producers and directors worldwide, both on the small and big screen. Winchester district has everything from stunning architecture to rolling countryside and vast open spaces – setting the perfect scene for any romance or thriller.
We welcome filmmakers and production companies to make the most of the district’s beautiful scenery and historic elegance for film and television. We can connect filmmakers and locations, advise on local expertise and signpost additional support.
Festivals
Winchester hosts a multitude of festivals throughout the year that inspire, intrigue and enchant thousands of visitors every year ensuring there’s always something to look forward to. Immerse yourself in Winchester’s festival scene and you’ll find the city it at its vibrant best – showcasing an ever-changing kaleidoscope of colourful events.
Winchester is proud to host a range of events every year, from small community events through to large scale festivals, we offer support and guidance to organisers to ensure your event is safe, successful and well attended! To discover more about how we can help you with your event in Winchester district, visit our festivals page.
