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05
Sept 2023
North Yorkshire tourism bosses warned not to repeat past mistakes
Officials developing a destination management plan to replace Welcome to Yorkshire have been urged to learn the lessons from the past.
A meeting of North Yorkshire Council’s transition scrutiny committee yesterday heard councillors call for the local authority to protect the Yorkshire brand, take more heed of the views of small businesses and work to attract international events without losing oversight of the consequences of tourism on communities.
Councillors were told the local authority was weeks away from submitting a destination management plan to Visit England to join neighbouring areas such as East Riding, Durham and Cumbria in becoming a local visitor economy partnership, to gain more national funding and support.
Officers told the meeting at County Hall in Northallerton they had consulted extensively with the sector on the framework which would lead, influence and coordinate all of “the aspects of our destination which contribute to a visitor’s experience”.
They said the plan would take account of the needs of visitors, residents, businesses, and the environment, joining all organisations with an interest in the industry responsible for 10 per cent of the county’s economy.
It is planned to bring Yorkshire LVEPs together in a destination development partnership, which would then identify collective strategic priorities.
In addition, the council is also part of a group looking at marketing North Yorkshire at a national and international level, the meeting was told.
Councillors heard while the council’s ambition is to increase the £2bn visitor spend by about 5% a year and increase the proportion overnight visitors to 20% of all visits, there were concerns the latter aim could exacerbate housing and staff accommodation issues in some areas.
An officer told members the council was confident the plan’s priorities reflected what the industry was wanting.
He added:
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However, Helmsley division councillor George Jabbour highlighted how comments by the Federation of Small Businesses, which represents 4,000 businesses in the county and York, on the council’s plan had been “very far from glowing”.
FSB comments included:
Cllr Jabbour added:
Officers said they would meet the FSB to address concerns, but some businesses appeared to have confused the management plan for a strategy.
The committee’s acting chairman, Cllr Bryn Griffiths, told officers:
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