YORK is to be represented for the first time at major European travel expo in a bid to encourage overseas tour operators to include the city in their holiday itineraries.

Visit York is participating in the RDA Group Travel Expo this week in Cologne, where it will put the city in front of an audience of coach tourism companies, group travel organisers and coach holiday suppliers from all over the world, with the aim of boosting coach business from overseas.

In preparation for the expo, Visit York has produced new marketing collateral in German to communicate directly with delegates attending the show.

The RDA Group Travel Expo, which has taken place every year since 1975, attracts more than 3,000 visitors from across the globe, each with a specialist interest in group and coach travel.

Michelle Brown, marketing manager for Visit York, said: “We’re excited to be taking part in the RDA workshop in Cologne for the first time this year. The event has a strong reputation among coach and group travel networks across the world.

“Visit York’s participation in the event is part of our wider international campaign to attract visitors from our key target markets.

“Germany is now York’s fourth largest In-coming international market in terms of visitors and we are keen to make sure York is front-of-mind for new operator programmes, as well as existing ones.”

Germany is York’s fourth biggest inbound market, with five per cent of York’s 231,000 overseas visitors arriving each year, and is the city’s top European market, with Spain and France close behind

According to the national tourism agency VisitBritain, the German inbound market is expected to grow steadily for the UK over the next decade, which York is set to capitalize on.

Exhibitors at the RDA Group Travel Expo range from accommodation providers, sea carriers, theme parks, tourist boards, group travel wholesalers and visitor attractions, right through to independent, family-run restaurants and hotels throughout mainland Europe, Asia and Australia. Visit York will be representing a host of York-based business that fall into these and many other categories including York Minster, the National Railway Museum, York’s Chocolate Story and The Grand Hotel & Spa, to name a few, which, collectively, give the city a broad appeal as a coach-friendly destination.