West Yorkshire tourism bosses announced ambitious plans to grow the region’s multibillion-pound visitor economy in Leeds last night.
It follows VisitEngland granting West Yorkshire ‘Local Visitor Economy Partnership’ status, a strategic partnership between the region’s five local authorities, chaired by West Yorkshire Mayor Tracy Brabin.
The new four-year strategy, developed by the partnership, sets out how the region aims to build a better and more productive visitor economy, attracting more visitors and inward investment to drive growth, create jobs and help businesses thrive.
It comes as Bradford UK City of Culture 2025 kicked off its landmark year on the world stage at the weekend, with a year of culture expected to attract over 15m people and £130m of visitor spend in the economy, supporting the creation of 7,000 new jobs.
Brabin said: “This is going to be a truly iconic year for West Yorkshire, with Bradford UK City of Culture 2025 acting as a beacon to attract millions of people from around the world to our region.
“This is just the start for West Yorkshire. With our bold plan, we’re going to build on our heritage to create a brighter future, ensuring these visitors come back for many more years to come.
“We’re harnessing the legacy of this once in a generation opportunity, creating more opportunities through partnership and public investment, and driving forward our ambition for growth in a stronger, brighter West Yorkshire that works for all.”
Andrew Stokes OBE, VisitEngland Director, said: “Great destinations are great places to live and work as well as to visit and strong governance can drive place-shaping and shift local and wider perceptions of the place which can contribute to local pride.
“Well run destinations can also attract new investment, increase income and create new jobs, and this new ambitious strategy for West Yorkshire will be central to achieving that.
“At VisitEngland, we look forward to continuing to work with the West Yorkshire Local Visitor Economy Partnership, their board, and their partners, to help realise the ambitions set out in this four year growth strategy.”
The new ‘Destination Management Plan’ outlines how West Yorkshire will build on its strengths to attract more visitors, by collaboratively promoting its vibrant cities, rural landscapes, national museums, a UNESCO World Heritage Site at Saltaire, and by continuing to harness the rise in film and television productions set in the region.
Investment into new initiatives, and the development of new national cultural institutions like British Library North, The National Poetry Centre and Brit School North are also expected to turbocharge opportunities for the region.
The plan concedes that West Yorkshire faces challenges in establishing itself as a tourist hotspot, however: “West Yorkshire is a relatively meaningless concept to consumers who tend to think of either Yorkshire or individual places/products like Holmfirth or Bradford, for example,” it says, also noting “limited hotel capacity and variation outside of Leeds” and “a lack of critical mass in any one place except Leeds City Centre.”
The plan also admits to “strong competition” for visitors in the North, singling out “Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle and York for city breaks or culture and business events,” and “the Yorkshire Dales and Moors and Peak District for rural or outdoor experiences.”
In 2023, West Yorkshire welcomed 71m people to the region, adding £5.77 billion to the local economy and supporting 52,412 full time jobs.
