North Yorkshire to put tourism assets at heart of ambitious strategy

Destinations in North Yorkshire which are famed across the globe will be used as the foundations for enticing more visitors to the county under a new strategy that is being developed.

The county has a succession of hugely popular destinations including the coast, the Yorkshire Dales, the North York Moors and the famous spa town of Harrogate.

North Yorkshire is also home to a wide range of cultural attractions, from historic stately homes to centuries-old castles and ancient monuments, such as Castle Howard and Fountains Abbey.

The first-ever county-wide plan is currently being developed to promote the industry and to help to attract an increasingly diverse range of visitors.

Tourism in North Yorkshire is worth £1.5bn a year and there are 41,000 people employed in the sector.

North Yorkshire’s new destination management plan will aim to promote a year-round visitor economy and will also investigate ways to address skills shortages and increase wages.

North Yorkshire Council leader, Cllr Carl Les, said: “We are in a hugely fortunate position that North Yorkshire has among the most recognisable destinations in the country.

“We want to make sure that these hugely popular destinations continue to thrive and grow, but they also play such an important role in ensuring visitors get to sample more of North Yorkshire while they are here.

“The new destination management plan will be a hugely-important means of ensuring that the visitor economy, which is such an important part of North Yorkshire’s overall economy, is developed in the coming years.”

The new strategy is aiming to capitalise on the designation of the Yorkshire Dales and North York Moors National Parks as an International Dark Skies Reserve in December 2020 to bring more visitors to the county during the traditionally quieter autumn and winter months.

The Scarborough Fair Festivals will stage the first ever Winter Lights Festival this winter in a bid to draw more visitors to the coast.

A draft of the destination management plan is due to be considered by councillors later this year, while a bid is set to be submitted to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport in September for North Yorkshire to become a Local Visitor Economy Partnership.

The countywide strategy is being developed following the launch of North Yorkshire Council on April 1.