Last updated 05:42, Friday, 19 September 2008

Christmas.It’s spelled C-a-r-l-i-s-l-e for many. Make a quick tour of the city centre and in among all the jingling tills, you’ll hear accents from Scotland, the north east and Preston.

They flock from Norfolk and even metropolitans from Leeds and Manchester make a break north for their shopping.

Over the past five years, the city has quietly built a reputation as ‘Carlisle – the Christmas City’.

It is steadily becoming known as the destination for Christmas shopping, at least in the north.

This year, the city council is aiming to attract more than 2m visitors to the city, which could be worth a cool £12m this Yule.

Part of the secret is that Carlisle city centre ‘feels’ Christmassy.

It’s a magical mixture of the lights, the trees, the bands playing and carollers singing.

And it certainly seems to work.

A staggering 31,000 shoppers bustled through The Lanes shopping centre last Sunday – 22 per cent up on the same day last year.

And the centre saw some 271,000 visitors last week, almost four per cent up on the same period in 2006.

David Jackson, commercial manager for The Lanes, said it was all down to creating the right atmosphere.

He reckons the city punches above its weight when compared to bigger cities, because it makes more of an effort.

“If you compare us to other cities, such as Liverpool, there is nothing like the concentration of lights,” he explained.

“Our Christmas lights and other features are second to none

“Carlisle makes a special effort at Christmas with the lights and other features and special activities.

“The market that has been on all week is all part of creating the environment.”

Another key factor is the manageability of the city centre.

Department stores, some of the best-known High Street names and one-off shops jostle for space and attention in a compact area where cars and taxis are unnecessary.

Mr Jackson added: “The city centre is unique in being pedestrianised, once you have parked your car, you don’t need to cross a road.”

But it is not just a question of stringing a few thousand lights across the streets and extending shopping hours.

There is a fair amount of administration and organisation needed to make the city centre sparkle and appeal to people who live two hours away or more.

‘Mr Christmas’ is Carlisle tourism manager John Bell.

He and his marketing team liaise with Northern Rail and Virgin Trains to provide transport to ferry late-night shoppers back to their homes in Scotland, Yorkshire or to the south and west of the county.

They also produce 500,000 leaflets which are included in evening papers from Glasgow and Newcastle to Lancashire and out into Yorkshire.

Mr Bell explained: “We are working hard with the travel operators and people are responding and doing their bit to enhance the Christmas experience.

“We send the leaflets out as inserts in regional papers and aim for people who live a maximum of two and half hours drive away.

“But it’s also about word of mouth and one couple travelled up from Norfolk to do their shopping in Carlisle because they had heard about our lights.

“A lot of people think it is a really nice Christmas experience and are going away saying it is better than Leeds, Newcastle and even London!”

The marketing strategy is supported by Cumbria Tourism.

A spokesman said: “It is a focal point away from the Lake District and puts Carlisle and Cumbria in the forefront of people’s minds at Christmas.”

Suzanne Caldwell, enterprise development manager for the Cumbria Chamber of Commerce said Christmas in the city could be spectacular – if the big-name stores got involved.

She said all the financing for the decorations and events came from the city council and independent retailers.

“Hoopers have provided a big boost, but other big retailers don’t get involved,” explained Mrs Caldwell.

“The general feedback we have had from retailers is that it is great and they want to see more of it, but it is costly and there is only so much they can do.

“People are doing a fantastic job with the resources they have, but with more resources, we could do even better and it could be really spectacular.

“But it is still an awful lot better than an awful lot of other places.”

The development of Carlisle as a Christmas destination began as a way of helping the area recover from the ravages of foot and mouth in 2001. It followed a meeting between city council officials and North West Development Agency officers.

Mr Bell explained: “Research showed that one of our best opportunities for marketing the city was to base it on Christmas.

“I went to Strasbourg to look at the lights there and came back with the idea of using white and blue lights, rather than the multi-coloured Blackpool Illuminations look.

“We got a new Xmas tree and sponsors such as Story Construction have joined in.”

The effort Carlisle puts in to brighten up December and create an atmosphere is appreciated by stallholders at the continental Christmas Market who reckon it compares favourably with towns in Europe.

Martine Petit runs the French cheese stall on the continental market.

She hails from the beautiful medieval city of Rouen in northern France, more famous for the demise of Joan of Arc than for its Christmas celebrations.

She said it was hard to compare the two places, but added: “It is very good here, the ambience is very nice.

“But Christmas is more important in England than in France.

“In France it is about the family in front of the fire, but here people go out to restaurants and the pub.”

Joel Duroc, who runs the olives stall and comes from the town of Gisors, halfway between Rouen and Paris, agreed: “Carlisle is very like the big towns in France, it is very lively.

“I have been coming here for four years and it is getting better.”

Ken Shaw has the soaps stall on the market.

An Englishman now based in southern France, he has been amazed by his first visit to Carlisle.

He said: “I have been very surprised, it looks fantastic, especially with all the lights on at night.

“I have been to the Lakes many times before, but never visited Carlisle – I did not even know there was a castle! It is not what I expected, it is much better.”

Those shoppers from closer to home were pleased with the town centre, though less impressed.

Lisa Leadbetter, of Keswick, said the city could learn from Edinburgh.

She explained: “I was there at the weekend and they have a Belgian market with an ice skating rink for the youngsters, it was great. This is good, but Edinburgh was better.”

Mark Graham of Whitehaven, didn’t realise there was a big continental market, or that Carlisle is ‘The Christmas City’.

“The wife wanted to do some shopping,” he shrugged.

“But it is a big surprise to see the decorations and the market. It is quite different and it’s good.”

But Carlisle is keen to build on its success.

A survey of shoppers in the city last Christmas discovered there was a 12 per cent increase in overnight stays.

Those visitors and their spending power are vital to the city’s economy and there is room for improvement, according to Mr Bell.

He said: “There will be over two million people visiting the city centre from outside the district this November and December, worth about £12m in visitors’ income.

“But we can improve.

“The Christmas market has grown over the years, we have successfully established it as a key event and we should now be increasing other events as part of the Christmas experience.

“We could make more of the switch-on and we could expand the carol parade and possibly make it into a torchlight procession.”