Bury St Edmunds Celebrates English Tourism Week

As part of English Tourism Week (15 – 24 March) Bury St Edmunds MP, Jo Churchill, met representatives from the town’s attractions and tour guides involved with the town’s Masters of the Air tourism campaign on Friday, 15 March at Bury St Edmunds Guildhall.

Apple TV’s Masters of the Air series (the final episode dropped on Friday March 15) tells the true story of the WWII bomber boys of the American Eighth Air Force 8th Air Force, known as the Mighty Eighth. They were part of the Friendly Invasion when over 350,000 United States Army Airforce (USAAF) personnel were based in East Anglia. More than 3,000 GIs were based at the airbase in Bury St Edmunds, now Rougham Control Tower Aviation Museum.

Amongst those from local attractions who Jo Churchill met were Graham Sage, Chair and Wendy Sage, Secretary of Rougham Control Tower Aviation Museum and Jill Badman, Manager of Bury St Edmunds Guildhall, where the Royal Observer Corps kept watch over Suffolk skies in WWII. Also present were Adrian Tindall, Chair of Bury St Edmunds Tour Guides and John Saunders, the Guides’ Marketing Officer who had created a special Masters of the Air tour in collaboration with Bury St Edmunds Guildhall for visitors to the town.

They were joined by Mark Cordell, CEO of Our Bury St Edmunds BID and Sue Warren, Marketing Manager of Our Bury St Edmunds BID, including the town’s official tourism brand Bury St Edmunds and Beyond, who spoke with Jo Churchill about the campaign and the importance of tourism to the town’s local economy.

The Masters of The Air campaign so far has delivered nearly 1.7 million digital advertisements and generated 27,000 visits to the town’s official tourism website. The campaign video featuring Rougham Control Tower Aviation Museum, Bury St Edmunds Guildhall’s WWII Operations Room and the Appleby Rose Garden in the Abbey Gardens, has been viewed 35,000 times in 7 weeks. Interest in the Masters of the Air tours, run by Bury St Edmunds Tour Guides and Bury St Edmunds Guildhall, has proved so great that the tours have sold out for January to April and further tour slots have been added.

Tourism brings more than £51.3 million pounds to the local economy in Bury St Edmunds and provides over 1,000 jobs.

Jo Churchill MP said: “It was fantastic to be with Bury St Edmunds Tour Guides, Rougham Control Tower Aviation Museum and others at Bury St Edmunds Guildhall to celebrate the start of English Tourism Week. A wonderful group of volunteers absolutely celebrating what we do locally for tourism and for that broader offer to draw people into the town. Thank you to everyone who puts such hard work into the tourism offer here and let’s continue to tell everyone we know just how fabulous Bury St Edmunds is.”

English Tourism Week highlights the industry’s economic importance to local communities and promotes the innovation, quality and range of products on offer to boost domestic breaks as well as celebrating the people involved through its Tourism Superstar award.

Bury St Edmunds tour guides have been shortlisted for the 2024 Tourism Superstar award with the winners decided by public vote via Visit England’s website. Voting will continue until midnight on 24th March.

Jo Churchill also took the opportunity to congratulate the tour guides for reaching the finals and encouraged more people to vote for them.

Sue Warren Marketing Manager of Our Bury St Edmunds BID and the town’s official tourism brand Bury St Edmunds and Beyond said, “We are delighted at how well our Masters of the Air campaign has been received both locally and nationally. Its given Bury St Edmunds tourism a tremendous boost early in the year.

“Now we wish our amazing tour guides the very best of luck in VisitEngland’s Tourism Superstar award which they so well deserve”, adds Sue Warren.

To read more about Bury St Edmunds' connections to Masters of The Air visit our Guide.