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16
Oct 2024
Ambitious 10-year tourism plan unveiled for North Yorkshire
A new tourism plan aims to increase the number of overnight visitors to North Yorkshire by almost a quarter.
The Destination Management Plan 2024 to 2034, published by North Yorkshire Council, can be viewed here.
It says the county currently attracts 31.1 million annual visits and tourism supports 38,486 jobs. The current visitor economy is valued at £4 billion, and the goal is to increase this by 20% above the rate of inflation by 2034.
The council also wants to increase the number of overnight visitors by 23% over the same timeframe.
It will aim to achieve these goals by focusing on increasing the number of people who stay for several days, as they spend more than day trippers.
Tourism statistics in the document
Target markets
The council held 40 consultation sessions and contacted 500 stakeholders before publishing the plan.
The plan describes five specific categories of people to entice and talks about ways to encourage them to stay longer.
The first category is described as ‘country loving traditionalists’. The document says:
This market is already likely to visit destinations such as Harrogate, the Yorkshire coast and market towns within the North York Moors and Yorkshire Dales. We can use attractors such as National Trust and English Heritage properties alongside our unrivalled countryside and landscapes to encourage this market to explore wider and stay longer.
Conservative councillor Mark Crane, the council’s executive member for open to business, told an executive meeting yesterday (October 15):
We want to see an increase in the number of travellers who come to North Yorkshire, particularly in people who stay over for 1, 2, 3, 4 nights.
Knaresborough's famous viaduct.
Cllr Felicity Cunliffe-Lister, a Liberal Democrat who represents Masham and Fountains, said she was disappointed the report did not focus more on market towns.
I am anxious to see market towns there as a theme because they are such a key part of our offer and I’m disappointed to see that that hasn’t been mentioned.
Gemma Rio, the council’s head of tourism, replied:
There wasn’t a theme specific to market towns, but we felt it was played out in some of the other areas around independent businesses and the distinctive places.
Cllr Greg White, the council’s executive member for managing our environment, who also has an interim management role at Flamingo Land Resort, said he was disappointed the plan “seems to be silent” on caravan parks and holiday homes. He said they had a “big impact on the local economy” and Flamingo Land itself could have 4,500 people staying overnight during the season.
Locally, there are numerous holiday homes and caravan parks in Pateley Bridge and Knaresborough in particular.
Cllr Crane said Cllr White made a “fair comment” but added it was difficult to capture the number of people staying in holiday homes due to Airbnb.
The plan mentions Harrogate eight times and Ripon and Knaresborough three times each. Masham is mentioned twice. Pateley Bridge and Boroughbridge aren’t mentioned.
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