Yorkshire leads the rest of Britain
Story Published: 5 August 2010
The Minister for Tourism and Heritage, John Penrose MP, has held Yorkshire up as an example to the rest of Britain after his first visit to the region.
Mr Penrose, who is drawing up the Government's tourism strategy, was on a two-day tour of the county accompanied by Welcome to Yorkshire chief executive Gary Verity, visiting leading attractions and meeting key business leaders. During his stay he visited RHS Harlow Carr Gardens, York Minster, Yorkshire Museum, National Railway Museum, Scarborough Open Air Theatre and Scarborough Cricket Club as well as the Cedar Court Grand Hotel and Spa in York and the Crown Spa in Scarborough.
He said afterwards: "It's my job to build a strategy for tourism in this country, and as part of that I'm visiting those areas that do tourism exceptionally well. I've been impressed with the work Welcome to Yorkshire has been doing - I think Yorkshire has a lot to teach the rest of Britain."
Gary Verity, chief executive of Welcome to Yorkshire, said: "We are encouraged by the comments from the Minister. We are working hard to make Yorkshire the number one tourist destination in the UK and we took the opportunity to show him some of the initiatives and successes we have had to date. To carry on the good work he talks about we need support from Government, so we look forward to continuing a dialogue with him going forward."
Welcome to Yorkshire was launched in April 2009 as the tourism agency for the county. In just over a year it has won numerous awards for both its marketing campaigns and its website, www.yorkshire.com.
For every £1 Yorkshire Forward has spent through Welcome to Yorkshire on tourism, the agency has collectively delivered £80 into the economy and for every £1 invested, Welcome to Yorkshire has returned £18 to the exchequer - £171 million in all.
The Government is due to report back on its strategy for tourism in September.
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Photo 1: John Penrose, Minister for Tourism and Heritage, and Gary Verity, chief executive of Welcome to Yorkshire, at RHS Harlow Carr.
Editors' Notes:
- Welcome to Yorkshire is the official tourism body for Yorkshire, working to grow the region's visitor economy.
- Welcome to Yorkshire is funded by Yorkshire Forward, the Regional Development Agency charged with improving the Yorkshire and Humber economy.
- Key facts include:
- Tourism in Yorkshire is worth £6.5 billion annually
- The region's industry employs a quarter of a million people
- There are 209 million visits to Yorkshire each year
For further information please contact:
Andrew Denton - Press Officer
Email: adenton@yorkshire.com
Direct Line: 0113 322 3537
Mobile: 07855 812094