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20
Mar 2022
Last Updated: 18/03/2022
Harrogate district set to become health destination in echo of Victorian past
More than a century after the Victorian spa era, Harrogate’s new tourism body Destination Harrogate is to promote the district as a health and wellbeing hotspot once again. Gemma Rio, the woman leading the initiative, reveals how it plans to do it.
Harrogate's Turkish Baths.
Long before ‘wellness’ became a buzzword, the Victorians were effectively already practising it.
And Harrogate led the way — even back then.
The wealthy and fashionable flocked to the spa town to experience its green open spaces and recuperative and healing powers of spring waters, which were first discovered by William Slingsby in the late 16th century.
Health and wellbeing hotspot
Now, more than a century after the Victorian era, Harrogate Borough Council's new tourism body, Destination Harrogate, is set to promote the district as a health and wellbeing hotspot once again.
It will draw on the district’s rich spa heritage and accessibility to the great outdoors to attract visitors, events and investment to create a strong local economy.
The approach forms one of three key objectives in a three-year plan, which sets out a vision, priorities and actions that will be put in place to make the district “a first choice destination”.
Speaking to the Stray Ferret, Gemma Rio, head of Destination Harrogate, explained what this would involve.
She said:
“People have been coming to Harrogate since 1571 to take the waters and have a leisure experience, so that’s not new, but it has developed over the years.
“Now you can still go to the Royal Pump Room Museum and understand the spa heritage and our roots and how we became this great leisure destination, but you can also go to the Turkish Baths, you can go and have an incredible spa experience at Rudding Park or Grantley Hall.
“So the whole district is very good at that traditional health and wellbeing piece.”
Rudding Park Spa.
Wellbeing different for everyone
Ms Rio, who was appointed in October 2020, said one lesson that had been learnt as a result of the pandemic was that health and wellbeing is different to everyone.
She said:
“For some people it is a massage and a jacuzzi, but to others it's a walk in the Nidderdale AONB, or it's seeing a show at the theatre, or it's just being with family around the table at one of our great independent restaurants. So that's what we are going to try and pull out in our campaign."
The multi-channel campaign, which will have a digital marketing focus, is being launched in April and will run for most of the year.
Ms Rio said:
"If someone is a really avid walker, we want to tell them that story and plan itineraries for them around walking and country pubs.
"Our supporting campaigns will also try and pick up the same messages.
"Every year Visit Harrogate ran a successful gardening campaign. Our partners loved that campaign, they have seen some great results from it.
"Obviously as a destination, gardening is a real strength of ours as well. We've got RHS Harlow Carr, Newby Hall and various places that have great gardens.
"So even our gardens campaign is going to try and link in with the health and wellbeing priority as well."
RHS Garden Harlow Carr
Read more:
- Harrogate tourism body makes health and wellbeing top priority
- Head appointed to lead new Harrogate district tourism body
Attracting business events
The focus on health and wellbeing will also be used to attract more leisure and business events, with one of the target sectors for conferences being the medical industry, Ms Rio explained.
She said:
"Where else to hold your medical conference than a destination that has this incredible spa heritage and medical story to tell?
"Where better to base you new health and wellbeing business, or really any business?
"If you want to invest in a place, knowing that you're going to be somewhere where your employees health and wellbeing will be looked after. A place where their work/life balance will be stronger. It's much easier to employ people to come and join you if you base yourself somewhere like the Harrogate district.
"It's a really exciting campaign."
Collaboration is key
Ms Rio said when the three-year blueprint, known as the Destination Management Plan (DMP), was written, a consultation with residents and businesses was carried out in order to come up with the three main priorities set out in the document.
She said:
"This theme came up over and over again and I think in many ways it's a bit of a no-brainer. We've got the history, we've got a great story to tell.
"Health and wellbeing has rocketed as a trend over the past couple of years. Plus we already have strong products, like the Turkish Baths. So it's not trying to promote something that we are not actually that good at.
"It's not rocket science what we have come up with. But I think what we have not done as a destination is work together to really push that in the same way that a place like Bath does.
"The story has always been there but we haven't really taken advantage of it in a way that we can now.
"Everyone is really keen to work with us to see this become a success, and I think as a destination that's the only way it can work. That collaboration is absolutely key."
'Core part' of district's identity
Ms Rio said the health and wellbeing campaign will continue to evolve and grow as a "core part" of the district's identity.
She said:
"Other campaigns will run alongside it to highlight other strands such as retail or arts and culture, but there will always be this golden thread running through it.
"A trip to Harrogate district is good for you, regardless of whether you are into massage, theatre or walking."
Nidderdale AONB.
One of the main messages that will be promoted by the campaign will be length of stay, which will aim to encourage visitors to come for long weekends or weeks away in the district.
Ms Rio added:
"The way we do that is we try and prepare itineraries. So we are adding some functionality to the Visit Harrogate website this year that makes it easy for someone to say 'I'm going to go to this experience in the morning, have lunch at this pub, stay at this hotel'. That helps to encourage people to stay longer, which benefits the local economy."
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