NEXT year’s Bramham International Horse Trials have landed a major boost.

The event, which will run at the world-famous Bramham course in North Yorkshire from June 2 to 5, is to be sponsored by tourism agency Welcome to Yorkshire. Welcome to Yorkshire will support the region’s largest equestrian fixture as part of their remit to increase visitor numbers to the county and it is hoped by the event’s ortganisers that it could become Yorkshire’s biggest sporting event.

Said Gary Verity, chief executive of Welcome to Yorkshire: “We are delighted to announce that we are title-sponsoring Bramham International Horse Trials in 2011. This exciting new partnership will strengthen our bid to bring even more people into Yorkshire.

“We want to show that Yorkshire has a wealth of events to offer and Bramham International Horse Trials is one of the very best.

“It is also much more than a sporting event – it is a fun-filled, action-packed four days for all the family.”

Bramham’s event director Nicholas Pritchard welcomed the boost, saying: “This is an exciting partnership and I look forward to working with Welcome to Yorkshire to build Bramham International Horse Trials into Yorkshire’s largest sporting event.

“They will bring so much to the promotion of the event as well as helping us to invest in improving the overall Bramham experience for competitors, owners, sponsors, officials and visitors.

“Over the last few years, the event has grown considerably in stature and visitor figures and I’m confident we’ll have a bumper 2011 thanks to this valuable support.”

Yorkshire’s tourism economy has just been valued at £7 billion for the first time after a boom in visitors. In the first 15 months since Welcome to Yorkshire’s launch, the county has seen a staggering 22 per cent increase in the number of overnight holiday visitors. This is almost double the UK average of just 12 per cent.

“We believe we can increase this even further,” said Verity.

“And I have no doubt Welcome to Yorkshire Bramham International Horse Trials is set to be the biggest and best yet.”

The International Horse Trials at Bramham Park have been part of the county’s summer calendar for more than 37 years and this partnership presents a huge opportunity to increase visitors.

International three star competitions attract competitors and spectators from all over the world. The box office for the Welcome to Yorkshire Bramham International Horse Trials on June 2 to 5 will open on February 1.

Visit the www.bramham-horse.co.uk website for all offers and competition information or visit www.yorkshire.com