Blakeney Point, shingle and sand spit created by longshore drift
_Our history
Development + Strategy
The road to a Suffolk and Norfolk LVEP
The Suffolk and Norfolk Local Visitor Economy Partnership (LVEP) is the latest iteration of destination management in Norfolk and Suffolk. LVEPs are strategic organisations accredited by VisitEngland, created following a review commissioned by the DCMS Secretary of State and the Tourism Minister in March 2021 and led by former Conservative MP Nick de Bois.
The Suffolk and Norfolk LVEP is one of only two dual-county LVEPs.
March 2012: The East of England Development Agency, which ran the Visit East of England tourism organisation that incorporated Essex, Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk, was abolished by the Government to bring in Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEP). The regional LEP, New Anglia, covered Suffolk and Norfolk.
July 2012: Visit East Anglia is created by a group of local businesses to bid for new county council and New Anglia LEP contracts to run Visit Norfolk and Visit Suffolk. They succeed and create new websites for both, as well as a new Visit East of England website. Local authorities contribute to marketing funds.
December 2015: Visit East of England bid to the VisitBritain GREAT Fund and are given a £75,000 award to promote a ‘East Anglia is GREAT’ campaign in the Netherlands.
March 2017: Visit East of England awarded £125,000 from the Discover England Fund to promote ‘The Friendly Invasion’ campaign, highlighting the World War II bomb group museums of the US Eighth Air Force and attracting North American visitors. Inviting Tom Hanks’ and Steven Spielberg’s representatives and author Don Miller on a familiarisation trip, it eventually leads to Apple TV+’s $750m mini-series adaptation of Miller’s book ‘Masters of the Air’.
March 2019: Visit East of England is launched with an event at Holkham Hall of local authorities, businesses and Destination Management Organisations (DMOs). The new chairman is Andy Wood OBE, chief executive of Adnams, and president is Thomas Coke, the 8th Earl of Leicester. Speaker Patricia Yates, now chief executive of VisitBritain, said at the event, ‘If you can coalesce around these two, you can get a seat back at the national table.’
October 2019: Visit East of England hosts one of only three VisitEngland workshops in the country which all local DMOs attend. This is a major breakthrough in VEE being seen as the region’s strategic tourism body that could work with the national tourism body on behalf of local DMOs.
March 2020: Covid pandemic lockdown announced by Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Visit East of England is used as the conduit for VisitEngland and VisitBritain to reach local DMOs and businesses. VEE leads the use locally of national messaging in its work, such as We’re Good To Go and Know Before You Go.
August 2020: Visit East of England hosts a tour of Norfolk by Tourism Minister Nigel Huddleston.
Autumn 2020: Visit East of England and its DMO coalition is awarded more than £400k of Government Covid recovery marketing funds to promote Unexplored England.
March 2021: The government announces an independent review to assess how destination management organisations (DMOs) across England are funded and structured, and how they perform their roles, in order to establish whether there may be a more efficient and effective model for supporting English tourism at the regional level.
The review is led by Nick de Bois, Chair of the VisitEngland Advisory Board, acting in an independent capacity.
June 2021: Visit East of England chief executive Pete Waters awarded an MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours for ‘Services to Tourism during the Covid pandemic’ for bringing together Norfolk and Suffolk’s Destination Management Organisations (DMOs) and local authorities to work collaboratively for the first time, communicating effectively with businesses and working with VisitEngland/VisitBritain to promote key messages.
September 2021: Visit East of England hosts a tour of Suffolk by Tourism Minister Nigel Huddleston.
September 2021: The de Bois DMO report and consultation response analysis is published.
October 2022: Visit East of England’s partnership working heralded as ‘trailblazing’ by VisitBritain chair Nick de Bois at VEE conference in The Hold, Ipswich.
December 2022: The Local Visitor Economy Partnership (LVEP) programme is announced. The initiative is part of the UK Government's response to the recommendations of the de Bois Review, aimed at reshaping destination management across England.
September 2023: Visit East of England travels with the VisitBritain mission to Los Angeles for Destination Britain North America Travel Trade conference.
October 2023: Visit East of England chairman Andy Wood and VisitEngland Director Andrew Stokes call for stakeholders to come together to bid to become a Local Visitor Economy Partnership.
April 2024: Norfolk County Council and Suffolk Public Sector Leaders Group support a Suffolk and Norfolk joint LVEP bid and agree a potential five-year funding award.
July 2024: Visit East of England awarded Suffolk and Norfolk LVEP accreditation by VisitEngland.
September 2024: The Suffolk and Norfolk LVEP hosts a three-day tour by VisitEngland chair Lady Victoria Borthwick.
February 2025: First board meeting of the new Local Visitor Economy Partnership signs off a new Destination Management Plan.
May 2025: Second LVEP board meeting agrees development of a ‘Naturally – A Welcome for All’ placemaking brand.
July 2025: Greater Anglia, working with Visit East of England, launch an UNLONDON campaign to attract visitors to the region by rail.
September 2025: Third LVEP board meeting signs off development of a Brecks Regenerative Tourism project, learnings from which can be used across both counties.
March 2026: New ‘Naturally – A Welcome for All’ websites launched for Visit East of England, Visit Norfolk and Visit Suffolk. They are underpinned by a single digital content management system for the first time.