You are here:
Home > Welcome to Yorkshire, an Award Winning Destination
Welcome to Yorkshire, an Award Winning Destination
Thursday, 15 October 2009
Yorkshire has been bucking the trend for visitor numbers this year. Boasting an abundance of places to stay, from boutique hotels to eco lodges, this is an exciting and diverse destination for all budgets. Yorkshire has it all: five vibrant cities, three national parks, miles of golden beaches, two UNESCO World Heritage sites and the world’s only UNESCO City of Film, exciting contemporary and historical attractions, famous locations featured in cinemas world-wide, a full calendar of international events, and more Michelin starred restaurants than any other region outside of London.
To discover why 96% of visitors intend to return to the UK’s largest region visit the Yorkshire stand where you’ll receive a warm welcome from Team Yorkshire.
In a first for World Travel Market (WTM), attendees will see a completely fresh approach to how Yorkshire’s unique charms are being promoted. Welcome to Yorkshire, formerly Yorkshire Tourist Board, is determined to make Yorkshire one of the world’s top tourism destinations and chief executive, Gary Verity, is at its helm:
"The new look is underpinned by an award winning marketing and PR campaign which has had a fantastic impact both here and abroad. I’m very proud to say that the campaign has received recognition for its innovative approach at the International Business Forum Awards and our new website yorkshire.com was awarded Best Tourist Board website by TravelMole."
It’s easy to see why Yorkshire is such an award winning destination. At this year’s Enjoy England Awards Yorkshire scored a hat trick, beating off hundreds of national attractions. Harewood House, near Leeds, took the Large Visitor Attraction Award (over 50,000 visitors) which makes it the best attraction in England, fending off stiff competition from Blenheim Palace and The Science Museum, London. Adding to this fantastic achievement, Noelle’s Cottages in North Yorkshire was recognised as the best Self Catering Holiday of the Year. And in a triple whammy Yorkshire produce claimed its rightful place at the top with the Pipe & Glass Inn, East Yorkshire taking first place for the Taste of England Award.
The Feversham Arms Hotel & Verbena Spa in Helmsley, North Yorkshire also achieved nationwide recognition when it was named the UK Hotel of the Year at this year’s AA Hospitality Awards.
"2009 has been an exciting year all round. Domestic holiday trips between January and May show a 19% increase compared to 16% nationally (VisitEngland UKTS survey) and one in three visitor attractions reported visitor number increases of more than 25% this August, while one in ten saw visitor numbers more than double. We think this is fantastic but visitors to WTM will be able to see for themselves what’s new in this truly amazing destination."
World Travel Market attendees are guaranteed a warm welcome to Yorkshire from the team on the Yorkshire stand UKI3200 which features representatives from Welcome to Yorkshire, Visit Hull & East Yorkshire, Visit York, North Yorkshire Tourism Partnership, West Yorkshire Tourism Partnership and Yorkshire South Tourism plus partners from the tourism industry.
- ENDS -
Editors’ Notes:
1. World Travel Market is the largest international industry event for tourism operators promoting a vast range of products from destinations to hotels, airlines to online travel services. This year’s four day event takes place at ExCeL, London from 9 – 12 November 2009.
Yorkshire partners attending World Travel Market:
Welcome to Yorkshire
Visit Hull & East Yorkshire
Visit York
North Yorkshire Tourism Partnership
West Yorkshire Tourism Partnership
Yorkshire South Tourism
• Welcome to Yorkshire is the official tourism agency for Yorkshire and the Humber region. It exists to represent and help generate sustainable business for the region's tourism industry which is worth £6.3bn to the region annually.
Our website
www.yorkshire.com recently won Best Tourist Board website
• Welcome to Yorkshire is supported by Yorkshire Forward, the Regional Development Agency charged with improving the Yorkshire and Humber economy.
For further information please contact:
Beverley Richmond Press Officer
Email:
brichmond@yorkshire.com
Direct Line: 0113 3223507
Dee Marshall Head of Communications
Email:
dmarshall@yorkshire.com
Direct Line: 0113 3223505
Mobile: 07950 325 901
View articles list