Yorkshire sailing to be top of the stops (From York Press)

Figures show Yorkshire as one of the country’s top destinations

9:04am Saturday 11th February 2012 in News By Nadia Jefferson-Brown, nadia.jeffersonbrown@thepress.co.uk

YORKSHIRE is proving to be one of the country’s top destinations following a dramatic rise in overseas visitors.

Figures for the nine months to September last year show that international visits to Yorkshire were up 12 per cent – an extra 83,000 visitors – bringing the total to 880,000. This is compared to a four per cent national average.

Spending by those visitors was reported to be up 29 per cent–an extra £83 million – bringing the total to £377million.

Nationally the average spend has risen seven per cent.

These independent figures – from the Office of National Statistics’ International Passenger Survey – also reveal a year-on-year increase of nearly 40 per cent in lengths of stay of international visitors in Yorkshire compared to the national average of five per cent. Gary Verity, chief executive of Welcome to Yorkshire, said: “Not many people would have thought a decade ago that we would be talking about Yorkshire being one of the world’s number one choices of destination for tourists.

“But that’s something we’ve always believed in, and something that has spurred on our marketing, PR and promotion of our county to a global audience – last month saw us scoop a World Travel Award for just that.

“Yorkshire’s several thousand dedicated and creative tourism businesses coupled with some of the planet’s most impressive areas of outstanding beauty mean that Yorkshire has more to offer than most – and these latest figures are proof of that.”

The growth in visitor numbers and their expenditure is mainly triggered by increased numbers of people travelling to Yorkshire from France, Germany and the Far East.

Welcome To Yorkshire’s overseas marketing has seen annual campaigns recently run in Germany and Holland, with Jet2.com and P&O Ferries, plus the launch of versions of the award-winning yorkshire.com website translated into Chinese, German, Dutch, Italian, French and Spanish.

The tourism agency also currently has the Welcome To Yorkshire yacht sailing around the globe in the latest Clipper round the world yacht race – which will be seen by more than 250million people including many in the Far East.

In 2010, the agency also struck a deal to run TV adverts in the backs of New York taxi cabs and bosses are now in talks with the Tour de France to bring part of the cycle race to the county in 2016.

Gillian Cruddas, chief executive of Visit York, said: “At the Visitor Centre we are noticing a slight shift in visitor patterns. Last year we saw in particular an increase in visitors from China and the Far East as well as Australia. Interestingly Bettys Café Tea Rooms and the York Designer Outlet are high on the list of places our Chinese visitors want to experience. We're delighted that York is attracting more and more attention across the globe and will continue to work closely with Welcome To Yorkshire to promote the city as a world class destination.”