About Welcome to Yorkshire

Welcome to Yorkshire promotes the UK’s largest county as a contemporary destination.

The company

Yorkshire.com (International) Ltd has been doing business as “Welcome to Yorkshire” since September 2022, from headquarters in York.

Before then, Welcome to Yorkshire was operational from 10 February 1994 (originally called the YORKSHIRE AND HUMBERSIDE TOURIST BOARD from 1994-1996 and YORKSHIRE TOURIST BOARD from 1996-2009) WELCOME TO YORKSHIRE traded from 4 December 2009 until 1 March 2022, when the company limited by guarantee, was placed into administration.

On 11 April 2022, the name WELCOME TO YORKSHIRE, trademarks and other assets were sold out of administration, before the original business, which had been a non-profit company limited by guarantee, was liquidated by administrators.

Yorkshire.com (International) Ltd is a private company, limited by shares, carrying the company number 14038811.

Championing Yorkshire tourism

Forget flat caps and whippets, Yorkshire is a contemporary destination which hasn’t neglected its roots. Welcome to Yorkshire has created a fresh, dynamic view of the UK’s largest county with its innovative marketing and PR campaigns, not forgetting its contagious enthusiasm which has garnered fans of Yorkshire from across the globe.

Our award winning team has achieved this by being creative and forward thinking but more importantly by working closely with members and partners to build interest in the county.

Since Welcome to Yorkshire launched in 2009

The Destination Management Organisation achieved in excess of £100 million in media coverage worldwide and has received accolades including the World Travel Award for World’s Leading Marketing Campaign.

See the on the Value of Tourism in Yorkshire, below.

Image name wty19 tourism economy infographic 4 2 the 1 image from the post About Welcome to Yorkshire in Yorkshire.com.

Welcome to Yorkshire’s achievements since 2009

World Awards

  • World’s Leading Marketing campaign 2010 – winner
  • World’s Leading Marketing campaign 2011 – winner
  • World’s Leading Marketing campaign 2012 – winner
  • World’s Leading Marketing campaign 2013 – winner
  • Peace and Sport Awards 2017 – Yorkshire Bank Bike Libraries – winner

European Awards

  • Europe’s Award for Marketing Innovation 2012 – winner
  • Europe’s Leading Marketing campaign 2013 – winner
  • Europe’s Leading Marketing campaign 2014 – winner
  • Europe’s Leading Destination 2013 – winner
  • Europe’s Leading Destination 2014 – winner

Domestic Awards

  • TravelMole Web Awards Tourist Board Website of the Year 2009 – winner
  • TravelMole Web Awards Best Use of Video 2009 – winner
  • TravelMole Web Awards Best Mobile Site 2009 – winner
  • Group Leisure Magazine Best Travel Website 2012 – winner
  • TravelMole Web Awards Tourist Board Website of the Year 2013 – winner
  • Business Insider Digital & Technology Awards Digital Marketing Campaign 2013 – winner
  • Business Insider Digital & Technology Awards Best B2C Website 2013 – winner
  • Global Sport Tourism Digital Marketing 2016 – Tour de Yorkshire – winner
  • Social Buzz Awards 2017 – Highly commended
  • TravelMole Web Awards 2017 – Best Tourist Board Website – Yorkshire.com – winner
  • TravelMole Web Awards 2018 – Best Tourist Board Website – Yorkshire.com – winner
  • Travel Marketing Awards 2018 – Best in House Team (Digital) – winner
  • Travel Marketing Awards 2019 – Best in House Team (Digital) – winner
  • Digital Impact Awards 2017 – Best use of Social Media Tour de Yorkshire 2017 – Silver
  • Digital Impact Awards 2018 – Best use of Social Media Tour de Yorkshire 2018 – Silver
  • Northern Digital Awards 2019 – Digital Marketing In-House Team of the Year – winner

Economic Growth & Visitor Statistics

  • The visitor economy has grown from £8bn to £9bn in 2017
  • Yorkshire employs 224,000 people in the tourism sector
  • 149m Tourism Day visitors in 2017
  • Overseas visitor spend was £567m, up 10% on 2016
  • Download the full infographic on the Value of Tourism in Yorkshire.

* Total tourism spend by visitors £7.3 billion. Supply chain effect on the tourism industry £1.7 billion

International Media Endorsements

  • Yorkshire named 3rd best region in world to visit by Lonely Planet for 2014
  • Yorkshire named in top 10 best world holiday destinations in 2014 by AOL Travel
  • Yorkshire named top place for Brits to visit in UK outside London by TripAdvisor

Welcome to Yorkshire at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show

Welcome to Yorkshire have an established history of taking a slice of our glorious county to London each year for the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. Here are our previous gardens and the accolades we won!

  • 2010 – Rhubarb Crumble and Custard Garden – Silver Medal & RHS People’s Choice Award
  • 2011 – The Art of Yorkshire Garden – Silver Medal & RHS People’s Choice Award
  • 2012 – The Brontë’s Yorkshire Garden – Gold Medal & RHS People’s Choice Award
  • 2013 – Le Jardin de Yorkshire Garden – Silver Gilt Medal & RHS People’s Choice Award
  • 2014 – Tour de Yorkshire Garden – Silver Medal & RHS People’s Choice Award
  • 2015 – Brewers Yard Garden – Silver Medal
  • 2016 – ‘God’s Own County – A Garden for Yorkshire’ – Silver Medal & BBC People’s Choice Award
  • 2017 – Welcome to Yorkshire – Silver Medal
  • 2018 – Welcome to Yorkshire – Gold Medal, Best Construction & BBC People’s Choice Award
  • 2019 – Welcome to Yorkshire – Gold Medal & BBC People’s Choice Award

Welcome to Yorkshire FAQs

What Happened to Welcome to Yorkshire?

On 1 March 2022, Welcome to Yorkshire Ltd, which was a Company Limited by Guarantee, AKA, a non profit business, was placed into administration by it’s board. That company, which relied heavily on local authority funding, has since gone into liquidation and will in future no longer exist.

The Welcome to Yorkshire brand, website, and other assets, were purchased out of administration, by a group led by a local business called Silicon Dales, who wanted to preserve the brand for the benefit of the Yorkshire community.

Several of these assets have been put back into operation, under the Welcome to Yorkshire trademark, as part of a new limited company, called Yorkshire.com (International) Ltd, which is now operating Welcome to Yorkshire fully, since the end of September 2022, mostly at Yorkshire.com.

The Welcome to Yorkshire business is trading once more, with a new structure, a new business plan, and a more commercial focus. In addition, several of the old organization’s assets which were purchased shall be restored over the coming months and years.

What are the future plans for Welcome to Yorkshire?

In Q3 and Q4 of 2022, effort was made to initially preserve and relaunch assets upon which the visitor economy of Yorkshire relied.

In early 2023, new products and services were brought forward to further enhance the Yorkshire.com and Welcome to Yorkshire product offering, and better suit the modern businesses which serve the region.

Plans are being actively developed and executed to restore events like the Tour de Yorkshire cycling event, the White Rose Tourism Awards, and more much-loved parts of Welcome to Yorkshire.

News will follow in due course.