OK. As I write this it is the middle of November and the year has but six more weeks to run. And then it is next year. We shall say goodbye to this year. It will be consigned to the history books. We will no longer be able to look forward to it, it is now in the past. Gone, but not necessarily forgotten. Next year, on the other hand, is just around the corner. It is, even as I write, getting closer by the minute.There is not long to wait, and I am looking forward to it. I want to plan ahead.
As I have pointed out before, the Lake District tourism industry is now a 12 month operation. Gone are the days when the cruise boats stopped running in October. Now they are on the go 12 months in the year. Once upon a time, the furniture in the region's Historic Houses disappeared under dust sheets at the start of November. Nowadays those same dust sheets remain folded in the linen cupboard, released only when the decorators call round every few years.
In the 21st century the Lake District has become an all year round tourism destination, and in recognition of this fact I decided that the Lakes-breaks.com web site should have an article entitled simply "Open all year", highlighting those attractions that never close.
Time for a little research, I thought. Isn't the internet wonderful? Years ago I would have got on the telephone and rang round, but nowadays I can look online, find out when an attraction is open and add it to my article. Easy peasy. Except that ....
Some attractions have web sites that show their visiting times in terms of the calendar. So instead of breaking things down in Winter and Summer opening, they state which months they are open. And quite a lot of them say that they are open in January- this year. But, even though it is only six weeks away, they do not mention next year at all.
Of course, I could assume that they are open at the same time next year, but that may cause a problem. What if they are not? It is not my place to simply assume that an attraction will be open. I need to know. As do all the people that are planning on visiting the Lake District this winter.
So, if you run an attraction and your web site says that you are open from January - December this year, but you have not got around to putting up next years opening times, please do not be surprised if those visitors that arrive for a winter break pass you by. Alternatively, you could update your web site.
Anyway, not all attraction web sites are out of date. Some are very much up to date, so to find out where you can go in the Lake District this winter, check out our Open all Year article here ...
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