COUNCILLORS are keen to put Wellington on the map as a place to visit by day-trippers in a bid to boost the local economy.

Members of Wellington Town Council’s economic development committee met on July 10 where they had a presentation from Visit Somerset chairman Giles Adams.

He spoke with councillors about how to positively promote Wellington and he was greeted with enthusiasm.

“We’d be looking at increasing day visitors to Wellington,” said Mr Adams.

He said the whole point of the Visit Somerset organisation was to get more people coming to the county on holiday and day trips.

Cllr John Thorne said: “We’ve got some great shops here and we are trying to promote our heritage and our close proximity to the Blackdown Hills. Wellington is the gateway to the Blackdowns.

“I think we should work more closely with Visit Somerset.”

Councillors recommended to the full council that a working group be formed to look at enhancing links with Visit Somerset.

Mr Adams thanked councillors for their interest and that he would happy to work with them in the future.

Visit Somerset is dedicated to promoting Somerset as a holiday destination for visitors from the UK and around the world – offering key information on how to get to the county, where to stay, what to do and how to get around once they are here.

The organisation is owned by the Somerset Tourism Association – a community interest company run by private sector companies for the benefit of visitors, local tourism businesses and their customers.

Cllr Keith Wheatley added: “I’m impressed with this and I think we should go-ahead and get involved.

“We need to have some hard thinking about what is distinctive and different about our town. Wellington is a great little town, but there are lots of great little towns. We need something different.

“Independent shops are really important as they can be a big attraction for people. I don’t think we can really talk about restaurants as we don’t really have any.”

Visit Somerset works closely with Visit England and Visit Britain to spread awareness about the county.