Value of Harrogate district tourism up by £31m, new figures reveal

Visitors to the Harrogate district are staying longer and spending more than they were pre-pandemic, according to new statistics.

However, the number of visitors over the same 2019 to 2022 timeframe fell by 650,000 from 6.47 million to 5.82 million.

Destination Harrogate, the Harrogate Borough Council tourism organisation, said today visitors contributed £637 million to the local economy last year, compared with £606 million three years previously.

The organisation also said the average length of stay increased from 2019 to 3.5 days, compared with 3.3 days three years previously. This is despite the fact the UCI Road World Championships took place in Harrogate in 2019, leading to high hotel occupancy rates in September that year.

John McGivern, destination events manager at Destination Harrogate said it was “fantastic news for our local businesses and residents”, adding:

“The fact that people are staying longer and spending more aligns directly with our objectives of a sustainable tourism model, attracting more revenue into the local economy, whilst minimising the impact on the environment.

“Together with our partners, with whom we share this achievement, we can celebrate the significant impact that our visitors are making on our local economy and can we look forward to further successes going forward.”

The figures are based on a tourism economic impact modelling process called STEAM that uses local supply-side data and visitor survey data. More information on the Harrogate district data is here.

Destination Harrogate aims to grow the visitor economy to £836.7 million by 2030, however its future is unclear after Harrogate Borough Council is abolished to make way for the new North Yorkshire Council in two weeks’ time.

Rudding Park Spa

Rudding Park Spa. Pic: Charlotte Gale

Cllr Stanley Lumley, cabinet member for culture, tourism and sport at Harrogate Borough Council, applauded Destination Harrogate for “boosting the economic impact of visits to the area”. He added:

“Harrogate’s visitor economy is the largest driver of the local economy second only to the property sector, and its value cannot be underestimated.

“With such a positive set of results we can look forward to a prosperous future for Harrogate as a major tourism destination within North Yorkshire.”

Since its launch a year ago, Destination Harrogate has delivered activities including a health and wellbeing campaign under the Visit Harrogate brand to attract higher spending visitors to stay longer for healthy breaks, Harrogate Christmas Fayre; events on the Stray marking the Queen’s platinum jubilee and the return of Harrogate Carnival.

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Bid begins to create new North Yorkshire tourism body

The incoming North Yorkshire Council is to bid to government for accreditation to create a new countywide tourism body.

The authority intends to apply to become a Local Visitor Economy Partnership — which will replace Destination Management Organisations following a review by ministers.

The new body would be responsible for promoting tourism in North Yorkshire and attracting events.

David Caulfield, assistant director for tourism and economic development at North Yorkshire Council, said the new organisation would also help to form a “Yorkshire-wide” tourism strategy.

He said:

“There may be four, or five, of these which eventually form a Yorkshire-wide approach. These LVEPs must be strong private/public sector partnerships and will need to follow the new national process to be eligible for any government funding.

“This is an exciting opportunity for us in North Yorkshire to play to our strengths, while maintaining a strong regional identity at the same time. It will also be one of the key aspects of the new council’s economic strategy.

“All of the current destination management organisations across North Yorkshire are already working closely on this project, pooling their knowledge and expertise to ensure we have the strongest possible proposal.”

The council intends to hire consultants at a cost of £20,000 to help support the bid.

Mr Caulfield said this would form a “small part” of the bid, with the majority of the work being carried out in-house.

Questions over Destination Harrogate

The move towards creating a county-wide tourism organisation raises further questions about the future of Destination Harrogate, the current Destination Management Organisation tourism organisation for the district run by Harrogate Borough Council, which is being abolished in four weeks.

Paula Lorimer, director of Harrogate Convention Centre, told a council meeting last month the government review would likely mean only destination management organisations from cities or large regions will be able to receive funding from central government.

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She suggested Harrogate would have to amalgamate into a wider, yet-to-be created North Yorkshire destination management organisation to qualify for the funding.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service revealed last month that Harrogate Borough Council spent £2,224,000 on Destination Harrogate in its first year operating — almost a million pounds more than budgeted.

Borough council chief executive Wallace Sampson told councillors the new authority could look to “identify savings” with Destination Harrogate after it is handed control of the organisation.

He added:

“[Destination Harrogate] is a discretionary service and against the background of a challenging financial environment for the new council, every discretionary service will be subject to financial scrutiny.”

Mr Sampson warned of the possible pitfalls of Destination Harrogate being merged into a county-wide tourism body, which he suggested could dilute the focus on individual places.

He said:

“From a Harrogate point of view we have Destination Harrogate that has a really strong focus on place branding and marketing and that helps to attract visitors. 

“The key question will be — can you retain the focus on individual places in North Yorkshire?  It’s something the new council will have to grapple with.”

Harrogate council spends £2.2m on new tourism body in first year

Harrogate Borough Council spent £2,224,000 on Destination Harrogate in its first year operating — almost a million pounds more than budgeted, figures reveal.

The council’s draft statement of accounts, which will be discussed at a meeting this evening, lists income and expenditure for the year ending March 31, 2022.

Destination Harrogate was officially launched as the council’s destination management organisation last year.

It has four streams aimed at promoting tourism, hosting events, bringing in investment and supporting culture and was launched amid concerns the authority had a “fragmented” approach to tourism and marketing.

Its campaigns have focused on promoting the district as a health and wellbeing destination to capitalise on Harrogate’s spa town heritage.

Campaigns in 2021 included ‘Destination Christmas’, which saw a giant helter skelter installed in the town. In summer 2022, the organisation helped organise a four-day celebration on the Stray for the Queen’s platinum jubilee.

Destination Harrogate’s website also provides details about how businesses can invest in the district, including at the new Harrogate West Business Park on Burley Bank Road.

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The report found the organisation generated £342,000 in income during 2021/22 and there was an overall net spend of £1,942,000.

However, it says the authority spent an additional £946,000 more than budgeted.

As reported by the Local Democracy Reporting Service last week, the council paid out £220,000 in exit packages last year with the majority due to the Destination Harrogate restructure that merged marketing teams at Visit Harrogate and Harrogate Convention Centre.

A council spokesperson said:

“Aside from investment to premises, funded through reserves, much of the expenditure during the destination management organisation’s early stages was in staffing the new service to ensure the organisation was fit for purpose and suitably flexible to respond to changing customer expectations/market developments and seasonal demand.

“While the 2021 restructure enabled the right mix of skills and experience to be in place to deliver the destination management organisation’s vision and strategy, the new service was no greater in size, in terms of employees, staffing costs or departmental budget than the previous service that it replaced.

“Prior to March 31 2022 the destination management organisation launched a new events bureau, Events Harrogate, and implemented successful marketing activity to increase awareness of the Harrogate district as a visitor destination and boost subsequent visitor expenditure – for example, the award-winning Destination Christmas campaign in 2021.

“Industry data shows that visitors to the Harrogate district were staying longer and spending more money with local businesses in 2021 than they did prior to the pandemic.

“Throughout 2022, Destination Harrogate delivered a wealth of successful events to bring more visitors into the Harrogate district, alongside successful marketing campaigns promoting the district as a first choice health and wellbeing destination, destination for garden-themed holidays and Christmas destination.

“In addition to visitor-facing marketing campaigns, the destination management organisation has also, through Events Harrogate, been working to bring more events into the district, while Invest Harrogate continues to attract inward investment in the district to encourage long-term growth in the economy. We can look forward to further successful outcomes for Destination Harrogate as we move forward into 2023 and beyond.”

Harrogate council agreed £222,000 in exit packages due to tourism restructure

Harrogate Borough Council agreed exit packages worth £222,000 last year with the bulk of the payouts given to former marketing staff in its culture and tourism departments.

In the summer of 2021, the council agreed to create a new destination management organisation for the district called Destination Harrogate after a review found the authority had a “fragmented” approach to tourism and marketing.

Destination Harrogate was set up to raise the profile of the Harrogate district and help attract tourists and investment but the restructure meant its marketing teams from Visit Harrogate and Harrogate Convention Centre were merged into the one organisation, resulting in job losses.

The council’s draft statement of accounts, which lists income and expenditure during 2021/22, includes details of 14 exit packages with the majority of payments linked to the restructure.

It says 12 payments worth up to £20,000 were agreed as well as one payment worth between £20,001 and £40,000 and another worth between £80,001 and £100,000.

The number of exit packages last year was unusually high for the authority. In 2020/21 it only agreed one worth £15,000.

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In 2022, Destination Harrogate unveiled a three-year plan to position the Harrogate district as a “first choice destination for tourism, large-scale events and investment”.

Alongside its partner Market Place Europe Ltd, it recently organised Christmas festivities in Harrogate, which included a Ferris wheel, ice rink and Christmas market.

A council spokesperson said:

“In summer 2021, Harrogate Borough Council agreed a restructure of the culture, tourism (including Visit Harrogate) and Harrogate Convention Centre marketing teams in order to establish a new destination management organisation for the Harrogate district.

“The destination management organisation’s purpose was to raise the profile of the Harrogate district as an exceptional place to visit, meet and invest.

“The destination management organisation required a staffing structure that was fit for purpose and suitably flexible to respond to changing customer expectations/market developments and seasonal demand. The restructure supported this and enabled the right mix of skills and experience to be in place to deliver the DMO’s vision and strategy.”