Yorkshire unveils Tour de France marketing campaign (From York Press)

Yorkshire unveils Tour de France marketing campaign

7:20am Friday 22nd March 2013 in News By Julie Hayes, Business editor

Gary Verity, chief executive of Welcome to Yorkshire, with one of the branded cars

YORKSHIRE will make its presence felt at this year’s Tour de France as part of a major international promotion ahead of hosting the 2014 Grand Départ.

Tourism agency Welcome to Yorkshire announced it would have six branded Yorkshire convertible cars with giant revolving Ys placed in this summer’s Tour de France publicity caravan which drives ahead of the riders.

It said the vehicles would be seen by millions of people lining the length of the 3,600km route.

The announcement was made at Welcome to Yorkshire’s annual conference, Y 13, after the Government committed £10 million on Wednesday to support Yorkshire’s plan for the Grand Départ, after Sport and Tourism Minister Hugh Robertson previously criticised the region’s plan, saying there was no need for an expensive marketing strategy and he didn’t have confidence in the plan.

Gary Verity, chief executive of Welcome to Yorkshire, said: “Yorkshire tourism is all about being the best and coming up with innovative, groundbreaking new ways to market our great county.

“After securing the Grand Depart of the Tour de France for Yorkshire next year, we felt we needed to help bridge that gap and capitalise on the run up from a tourism point of view.

“This money will potentially allow us to realise our ambitions for the Grand Départ. We want it to be grandest in the history of the Tour de France. We want ours to be the biggest and best and have the most economic impact it can have for the good people of Yorkshire.”

He said the details of the campaign were still to be discussed with the Government. “We have a clear business plan, anybody who spent time studying it could see that,” he said.

Welcome to Yorkshire also launched other plans including a new national TV and cinema advert, a campaign called Yorkshire Sculpture Triangle to promote Yorkshire as the European capital of sculpture and said it would enter a cycling themed entry to this year’s Chelsea Flower Show, in which it has won awards for the past three years.

It also urged Yorkshire to get behind the Rugby League World Cup England and Wales 2013, for which seven matches will take place in Yorkshire, and announced partnerships with local businesses, crisp manufacturer Seabrooks, which is to feature Welcome to Yorkshire branding on its crisp packets, and Boroughbridge haulier Reed Boardall, which will display iconic images of Yorkshire on 100 of its lorries.