-Grand Départ impact on inbound tourism revealed
-New record for holiday visits and spend across the region
As Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg and Tourism Minister Helen Grant visit Sheffield today to discuss the 10 million Northern Tourism fund, newly released figures for the first nine months of 2014(¹) show a bumper period for Yorkshire – a time which saw the region’s hosting of the Tour de France Grand Départ.
From January to September overseas visits to Yorkshire went up by 12% to 1.08 million and these tourists spent a total of £465 million. The strongest growth in visits came from Australia, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain and USA.
Holiday visits in particular, across the first nine months of 2014, saw a significant jump of 32% and the amount spent by tourists whilst holidaying went up a massive 70%. Strong holiday visit growth came from France, Italy, Netherlands, Ireland, Spain and USA.
In Q3 2014 there were 472,000 overseas visits to Yorkshire – a new Q3 record and up by 19% compared to the same period in 2013. A total of £230m was spent during this three-month period – a new Q3 spend record for Yorkshire and up 1% compared to Q3 2013.
Patricia Yates, Director of Strategy and Communications at VisitBritain said: “Inbound tourism is one of Britain’s most successful export industries, generating jobs and growth across Britain. Yorkshire plays a valuable role in that success and the legacy of its excellent hosting of the Tour de France is clear to see. Yorkshire tourism has a strong future and the region will also feature heavily in our new 2015 Countryside is GREAT campaign launching later this month.”
Tourism Minister Helen Grant commented: “Yorkshire is playing a big part in helping to drive Britain’s record tourism boom. Last year’s Tour de France Grand Depart showcased the best of this wonderful region to the world and now it is about keeping up that momentum.
“It is why we have launched a £10 million fund to help strengthen tourism in the North and why the Deputy Prime Minister and myself have met key stakeholders in Sheffield, including Welcome to Yorkshire’s Gary Verity, to discuss what more can be done to help further growth in the region.”
Gary Verity, Chief Executive of Welcome to Yorkshire, who led the winning bid to bring the Tour de France to the county, added: “Yorkshire’s global profile has never been higher – and this is further evidence of the huge beneficial impact of bringing the world’s largest annual sporting event to the county. We know when visitors from around the world come to Yorkshire to see it for themselves they fall in love with the county, which in turn helps drive up repeat visits. The new Tour de Yorkshire international cycle race starting this May will help us capitalise on the foundations already laid.”
Yorkshire will be one of the key regions showcased in VisitBritain’s biggest campaign of 2015, Countryside is GREAT, launching on the 29th January at Chatsworth.
