A TOURISM chief has pleaded with people living in Worcestershire to invite their friends to visit the county and help companies recover from this summer's flooding.

Destination Worcestershire's manager Rod Nipper appealed to residents to look again at the attractions available on their own doorsteps.

He said: "All the people who live in Worcestershire should be pushing the positive message. There's an awful lot of people out there who haven't been personally affected by flooding and if they can bring all their friends and relatives to see what's out there, then that's great.

"There's a terrific variety of shopping in the city and some fantastic events on. Why go to Birmingham when you can come to Worcester?"

Destination Worcestershire, a tourism marketing organisation, is one of a number of organisations which have battled to promote the county since June and July's flooding.

A Rain or Shine campaign, set up by Advantage West Midlands and Tourism West Midlands to encourage people to come to the area, has already proved successful.

Recent events, including the Pershore Plum Festival, attracted a high numbers of visitors, with 30,000 people thought to have visited the Evesham Angling Festival.

The Upton Water Festival also brought 20,000 people to the area, while crowds also turned out for the Salt Day Festival in Droitwich.

However, Mr Nipper said parts of the tourism industry were still suffering, with some people cancelling overnight stays because they thought the county was closed for business.

He is now planning a Christmas in Worcestershire campaign to tempt more visitors to the county.

Mark Pearce, corporate director for economic regeneration at Advantage West Midlands, also urged people to support businesses during the school holidays.

He said: "There is still the half-term break left for us to make a real difference and help the areas that were affected to make what they can of the summer."