Visit Greenwich and the Royal Borough of Greenwich have created a destination management plan for Woolwich.

Lauded recently as London's coolest new hotspot, Woolwich has just seen the opening of the hotly anticipated Street Feast breathe life into the old Covered Market, which has stood on the site since the 1930s.

Ambitions to double tourism in the borough

The Royal Borough of Greenwich sees over 19million visitors a year, contributing £1.3billion to the local economy, and supporting over 15,000 industry jobs, many of which are filled by local people. The new Destination Management Plan for Woolwich has high ambitions to double the value of tourism for the area by 2020, with a potential to generate over £35million to the local economy and the creation of 900 new jobs.

Councillor Denise Hyland, Leader of the Royal Borough of Greenwich, said: "It's wonderful that Woolwich is finally being recognised as the place to come and live, work, study and eat out. The town centre is undergoing huge transformation at the moment, but we want people to see that there is more to Woolwich than just the ferry or the street market.

"The Council has worked hard to ensure that Crossrail came to our borough, helping to bring even more visitors here, and we have secured significant funding from Arts Council England into Woolwich via the Cultural Destinations Fund and the Woolwich Creative District. This new Plan is about bringing benefits to the east of the borough - it's not just about Woolwich - but benefits for Thamesmead, Plumstead, Charlton and Abbey Wood too."

'Make Woolwich a chosen destination'

Barrie Kelly, Chief Executive at Visit Greenwich, who launched the Plan, commented: "Woolwich isn't a place that has traditionally shouted 'tourism hotspot'. However, we have ambitious plans to make Woolwich a chosen destination with new marketing and events plans, and creation of a new Woolwich identity - one that draws people here, helping drive the local economy and create local jobs for local people."

'Spreading the word that this is the place to come'

Councillor Denise Scott-McDonald, Cabinet Member Culture, Creative Industries and Community Well-Being, said: "Woolwich is already home to some amazing events, such as the Council’s fantastic annual festival programme, and the stunning Greenwich and Docklands International Festival, which attracts thousands of people to Woolwich each year. But we want to go further and make Woolwich the place to go for events and culture.

"This Destination Management Plan will place Woolwich on the tourism and culture map, spreading the word that this is the place to come for fantastic events and entertainment. With our new Creative District in the pipeline, we have amazing plans for this historic town centre."

What's in the plan

The Destination Management Plan will focus on:

• generating additional local revenue by driving up visitor numbers to Woolwich with a target of increasing revenue to £35.9million
• creation of up to 900 jobs
• devising a new recognisable 'Woolwich brand' to help improve marketing locally, nationally and with the travel industry to increase awareness of events and activities
• working to improve local supply chains
• maximising publicity locally, nationally and internationally for the Royal Borough's cultural events programme.

Find out more on the Visit Greenwich website