Yorkshire sees strongest first half for tourism since 2008

THE first six months of 2014 equated to the strongest first half of a year for inbound tourism to Yorkshire since 2008, new tourism figures from VisitBritain reveal.

From January to June 2014, Yorkshire welcomed 607,000 inbound international visits – an uplift of 7% on the same period in 2013 and the highest number of visits for five years. This growth sees visit numbers moving towards the 2008 pre-economic crisis record of 635,000 visits.

The amount spent during visits to Yorkshire in these first six months was £225m – marginally lower than the record breaking £242m spent in 2013 but still higher than any other year apart from 2013.

Visits from Australia, Hong Kong and the US were most valuable overall, contributing £25m, £19m and £16m to the region’s economy respectively.

The Q3 2014 data for July to September – traditionally showing high spending levels – is still to come and is likely to have a significant impact on the year-to-date spend figures across Yorkshire, particularly due to the region successfully hosting the Tour de France Grand Départ in July.

Out of all inbound visits to Yorkshire from January to June 2014, holiday visits saw the most notable growth, with uplift of 43% to a total of 157,000 visits – the highest number in the region for this sixth month period since 2008.

The largest number of visits to Yorkshire during these six months – 71,000 – came from the US, with unprecedented growth of 59% compared to the same period in 2013, which also saw growth compared to 2012. Visits from France followed in second place, with a total of 56,000 visits. Notable visit growth came from Australia and the Netherlands – both up 63% on 2013 – and spend from the Netherlands went up by a massive 89%. This continues the strong growth trend seen from the Netherlands in 2013 for both visits and spend.

Gary Verity, chief executive of Welcome to Yorkshire, said: “The team at Welcome to Yorkshire has worked tirelessly to put our county where it belongs – on the world stage. Since we announced our bid was successful to bring the Tour de France to Yorkshire we’ve seen a huge surge in interest, visits and importantly spend in the county. 2013 saw a 35% rise in international visitor spend and now we see that the first half of 2014 follows this trend, which is brilliant news for our Yorkshire tourism economy and businesses.

“Tourism is an economic powerhouse – it creates jobs, growth and helps reduce the national deficit, not add to it.”

Patricia Yates, director of strategy and communications at VisitBritain, added: “Early indications suggest that 2014 is shaping up to be another record year for inbound tourism to Yorkshire, with the impact of hosting the Tour de France Grand Depart on a global stage still to come. Already the region is bucking national trends in showing major growth from the US – our most valuable UK market – as well as strong growth from European markets.”