International visitor spend soars to almost £100m in first quarter

Yorkshire tourism has got off to a flying start in 2017 as new figures reveal international visitors have spent nearly £100m in the year’s first quarter.

267,000 overseas visitors spent £99m from January to March 2017, up 30% on the same period last year, according to figures from Visit Britain.

International spend in Yorkshire is also nearly double the national average which is up 16% year on year.

Sir Gary Verity, chief executive of Welcome to Yorkshire said: “This is fantastic news for the county and one of the main reasons why we put on global events like the Tour de Yorkshire and the UCI Road World Championships. These events are televised to hundreds of millions of people around the world creating a giant postcard beaming stunning images of Yorkshire across the globe.”

Justin Scully, general manager at Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal in Ripon said: “We’re certainly seeing the benefit of Yorkshire hosting these huge events and are welcoming even more visitors to the World Heritage Site from overseas. Organised groups from Spain, the Netherlands, Germany and China are increasing as well as the number of independent travellers who are enjoying extended stays in this beautiful county of ours.”

Sarah White, from the National Coal Mining Museum of England, based in Wakefield, said: “Our visitor numbers are up 20% this year and we are seeing a lot of people from France and Germany, and even some from as far as China. I think the way Yorkshire is promoted on a global scale has definitely boosted our visitor numbers.”