Scarborough Event to Help Form New North Yorkshire Tourism Strategy

Friday, 12 May 2023 06:00

By Matthew Pells

Tourism businesses on the North Yorkshire Coast are being invited to play a part in developing a new tourism strategy for the county.

North Yorkshire Council is holding a workshop in Scarborough next week to get local input into a draft destination management plan.

Council Leader - Carl Les - says they want people from across the visitor economy to take part in the event.

North Yorkshire Council is coordinating the new strategy, which will be aimed at boosting the multi-million pound tourism industry and supporting tens of thousands of workers who are employed in the sector, while also attracting a wider and more diverse range of visitors to the county.

The council’s leader, Cllr Carl Les, said:

“The opportunity to develop the first county-wide plan to promote tourism is a major milestone for North Yorkshire.

“The views of businesses and organisations involved in tourism will be key to developing the strategy and the future of the industry as a whole.

“We have such a breadth of tourism businesses and attractions which we can be rightly proud of, but we want to ensure that the sector can grow and flourish in the future and help support the region’s wider economy.”

Invitations have been sent out to tourism businesses for the workshops, which are free and will be staged both in person and online.

One of the workshops will be at Scarborough Rugby Club on Thursday May 18th between 11am and 1pm.

Councillor Les is calling for anyone in the visitor economy go get involved.

Two online sessions will also be held from 5.30pm to 7pm on Tuesday, May 23, and then from noon until 1.30pm on Thursday, May 25.

Attendance at the workshops is free of charge, and invited guests can find out more information and confirm attendance at www.eventbrite.com/cc/north-yorkshire-destination-management-plan-2137459 .

A survey of North Yorkshire's visitor economy is also being conducted to allow a greater understanding of the views of industry.

The questionnaire will focus on accommodation, attractions and experiences, food and drink, festivals and events, as well as heritage and culture, landscape and countryside, towns and villages, access and transportation and visitor services.

The questionnaire on North Yorkshire’s visitor economy is available at https://cvent.me/YB2V7D, and will take no longer than 10 minutes to complete.

The draft destination management plan is due to be finalised by the end of June, before being presented to councillors the following month.

A bid is then due to be submitted to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport in September for North Yorkshire to be home to a Local Visitor Economy Partnership (LVEP), which will involve both the private and public sectors and will need to follow a new national process to be eligible for support and potential funding from the Government.

Tourism in North Yorkshire is worth £1.5 billion a year in the spend from domestic visitors. It accounts for 11 per cent of the county’s overall economy, and 41,200 workers are employed in the sector.