MALVERN should look to Europe for ideas to put the area on the tourist map, a top consultant has said.

Richard Denman was speaking yesterday (Thursday) at the inaugural meeting of a new partnership aimed at making the most of tourism in the Malvern Hills area.

Examples he used included "visitor channelling" at Pays Cathare, France, where tourists are encouraged to park some way from the main attraction, a castle, and are funnelled past shops and cafes where they could spend money.

Authorities in Malvern could look at the same idea by moving the Worcestershire Way footpath to take in Malvern itself.

In Bregenzerwald, Austria, local dairy producers have got together to promote their products and created a "cheese trail".

Mr Denman suggested similar things could be done in Malvern by the producers and users of distinctive local produce.

He mentioned a project for organised walking which has brought tourists to Rund dem Feldberg, Germany, and which could also be applied here, perhaps in the form of water-feature walks.

Mr Denman is a director of The Tourism Company, a Ledbury-based consultancy which has experience all over the world.

During yesterday's presentation at the Abbey Hotel, he also gave examples from the UK, including the Lake District Tourism and Conservation Project, which urges visitors to make a financial contribution.

He said: "The visitors are asked to make a small voluntary payment on top of their hotel bill, which goes towards preserving the environment.

"Round about a hundred businesses have been taking part in it and in the last four or five years, it has raised £250,000."

Other ideas include reviewing car parking arrangements, improving information to visitors with information points at tourist "hubs", more investment in footpaths and cycleways and improving pubic toilets.

The new partnership - as yet nameless - is a joint venture between Malvern Hills Conservators, the two county councils, Malvern Hills District Council, the Countryside Agency and the AONB partnership.

Mr Denman said: "The three key objectives are to increase local income and employment generated by visitors to the Malvern Hills, to ensure that the environment is not damaged, and if possible is enhanced, by tourism, and to ensure that all visitors to the hills have a quality experience which will encourage repeat visits."

Malvern Hills Conservators chairman Richard Graves said: "We want to see greater income in the local economy through visitors. We have to get them to come here in the first place, stay longer and spend more."

Studies show that 1.25 million people visited the AONB, plus Malvern and Ledbury, in 1998/9.

The average length of day visits was three hours; stays were four nights on average and 75 percent of visitors said walking was a primary activity.

Fifty-two per cent of visitors were on day trips and only three per cent were from overseas.

Tourism is worth about £28 million a year to the Malvern Hills area.

Ian Rowat, director of the Conservators, said the next step would be for members of the partnership to go back to their own groups and ask them for more ideas.

"The ultimate aim of this is to put in a bid for funding. We would expect to see things happening by next spring.