Frome Festival is in talks with a prominent UK travel consultant to bring over American tourists.

The news follows tourist Information figures that show visitors to the town more than double during festival week.

This year’s festival will celebrate its tenth anniversary from Friday 9 to Sunday 18 July.

Boutique tour specialist Paull  Tickner wants to link the festival’s Hidden Gardens with Hampton Court Palace Flower Show to draw garden enthusiasts from the States.

“I think the two events are a good fit. The grandness of Hampton Court and the out of the ordinary curiosity of Frome reveal two different sides of our fascination and approach to gardening and the arts,” he said.

Tickner hopes to use the Bristol Gateway, with trans-Atlantic flights between Bristol and New York, to open up US tourism to Frome and the Southwest region.

Continental Airlines began operating between Bristol International Airport and Newark Airport in the US in May 2005. United Airlines and Dutch operator KLM have since followed suit.

Under draft proposals, parties of 15-20 US tourists would spend three days in Frome during the festival, visiting gardens by day and watching performances by night.

A potential itinerary could also include visits to nearby heritage gardens such as Stourhead Gardens and the Peto Garden at Iford Manor, which holds opera evenings during the summer.

Through his partnership with the Great Days Travel Group, which has booking offices in London and Manchester, Tickner also wants to tap the UK market by offering bespoke coach tours to the Mendip region.

“The area has great tourist potential. Frome itself offers a nice but unusual package,” he said.

Tickner won plaudits in the travel industry as managing director and owner of British Heritage Tours. He specialises in tailor-made tours, planning itineraries with garden, performance, literary and art themes.

Juliet Hageage, an industry insider with more than 20 years of experience, said of Tickner: “I’ve met no tour operator with as much unbiased knowledge of Britain. Nor any Briton who understands American Travel agents as well as Paull.”

Frome Festival chairman Bob Morris approached Tickner after hearing an “inspirational speech” he gave at a roadshow organised by the British Arts Festival Association in 2009.

Morris said: “Paull Tickner opened our eyes to the tourist potential of our festival. We have the big advantage that our festival follows Bath, and is held at the start of the school summer holidays when the national arts calendar is fairly thin.

“I am confident that we could work together to create a splendid sense of occasion for American visitors.”

Creative director Martin Dimery has already laid the foundations for this year’s festival with the booking of comedian Paul Merton for two nights at The Memorial Theatre on 12 and 13 July.

Dimery said: “I applaud any move that broadens the festival’s appeal and welcomes visitors from overseas.”

Hidden Gardens has been a perennial favourite since the festival’s inception nine years ago. This year’s open days will be held on the first weekend of the festival on 10 and 11 July.

Edwina Larner, an architect and keen gardener who moved to Frome four years ago, will co-ordinate Hidden Gardens 2010 for the first time.

Larner intends to make sure the event matches up to the festival’s great achievement in reaching its tenth birthday in good health.

Approximately 40 gardens are expected to take part, including Larner’s own garden, which suffered in last year’s flooding.

“I had to start from scratch but I am determined to have the garden ready in time for the festival.

“Hidden Gardens is wonderful, informal and so English. Americans would adore it,” she said.

Karen Clements, manager of Frome Tourist Information Centre, said events such as Hidden Gardens gave the festival “a breadth of interest beyond many arts festivals”.

In a letter to the festival, she said Frome TIC saw a significant rise in visitor numbers three years in a row during festival week: 2007 – 82 per cent; 2008 – 52 per cent; 2009 – 73 per cent.

Clements believed many people moved to the town because it has a surprising number of arts venues for a medium-sized town.

Frome TIC offers visitors a Relocation Pack that includes a page on town culture. “It is a real selling point,” she said.

“The festival brings economic benefits and contributes to the cultural life of the town. Long may it continue!”

Frome Festival 2009 saw capacity crowds at a record 28 events. A further 14 events sold more than 80 per cent of their tickets.