SUMMER may be a washout but the county's tourism businesses still look set to lure record numbers of visitors to the Lake District.

The news came this week as tourism chiefs revealed the county's tourist industry had topped the billion pound a year mark for the first time, and successful business owners came together for Cumbria Tourist Board's annual meeting.

The optimistic outlook has been partly pinned on the return of Japanese and American tourists who are flocking back now that worries over the war in Iraq and the SARS scare have died down.

Favourable figures from Cumbria Tourist Board, which show 15.5 million visitors flooded to the region last year, coupled with positive noises from industry insiders, have prompted predictions tourism is set for its best year yet.

"The way things are going we could easily be equal to last year's figure if not better," said operations director at CTB Ian Stephens. "Sept-ember looks fairly strong from advance bookings and we're pleased with the way things have gone this year."

Holding the board's multi-million pound marketing campaign partly responsible for the positive perform-ance, Mr Stephens added the return of overseas visitors had also played a part.

"Overseas visitors to the Cumbria area make up about ten per cent," he explained. "Of that figure, about four per cent come from the US, and one per cent are from Japan it's a relatively small but noticeable figure which is important for visitor attractions and larger hotels."

One of the many businesses reaping these rewards is The World Of Beatrix Potter in Bowness.

General manager, and chairperson of the Japan Forum which has been designed to tap into Japanese tourism, Richard Foster, said: "This year has been very good news as the Japanese tourists we lost to the SARS scare last year and other tourists we lost due to fears about the war are back.

"The figures are anecdotal but we have seen over a 25 per cent increase in Japanese tourists this year."

At Windermere Lake Cruises, where 1.35 million people stepped on deck last year, marketing manager Robin Martakies predicted a "record year".

"It's going to take a lot of hard work but I think it's going to be a record-breaking year," he said. "We lost a lot of American business to 9/11 and have since encouraged new markets. We have gone out looking for new business and have done a lot to bring in South Asian tourists and it's paying off."

Manager of the Lakeside and Haverthwaite Railway Karen Maher said the attraction was doing much better than the previous year.

The positive news would appear to be echoed by figures from tourist information centres across the district which are seeing more feet through the doors. Information officer for South Lakeland District Council David Phillips said that in June, Ambleside TIC saw 26,000 people 3,500 up on last June and in July figures were 31,000 3,000 up on the previous year. Kendal TIC pulled in just over 19,000 people in July compared to 18,000 the year before.

Chairman of the Lakes Hospitality Group which represents 250 tourism businesses in the national park area Bill Smith said: "The weather has meant we have had mixed feedback but the general feel is reasonably confident the year will finish in a similar way to last year."

Managing director of the English Lakes Hotel group, which owns a several hotels in the Lake District, Simon Berry said the season was "going well", while many catering for campers have found they are booked out at weekends.

Manager at the National Trust's Low Wray campsite John Kelly said it had been full most weekends since Easter and added numbers were "well up on last year".

The region's fortunes echo national trends. The latest figures from Visit Britain show visitor numbers for the first half of this year are the best ever.