How to secure the future of the Yorkshire tourism industry

I am worried about the future of Yorkshire's tourism industry. Businesses are struggling. We're missing opportunities. Our visitor economy isn't as strong as it could be. 

Some of my concerns are due to Covid, but most started well before March. This is what bothers me: 
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• There's no overall strategy for Yorkshire tourism. We don't have any concrete aims in terms of what we're trying to achieve, the markets we're trying to target, the type of tourism we might want, how we want Yorkshire to be seen, how we can generate more revenue. 

 

• We haven't had any kind of open debate about Yorkshire tourism for years. Welcome to Yorkshire has had its difficulties but we've not had a proper conversation about what its role should be or what we need it to actually do. 

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• Many different organisations, individuals and businesses are involved in developing and promoting tourism in Yorkshire. We need to bring them together, to enhance collaboration and be more effective. 

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• Public funding is now even more limited than before, but local authorities are continuing to fund Welcome to Yorkshire, despite the lack of any Yorkshire-wide tourism strategy. We need more transparency on those decisions, to consider all options. Public funding is intended to help develop the visitor economy, increase revenue and support businesses (I think) but there's limited consultation and even less consideration of the actions that are necessary to make the visitor economy stronger. 

This presentation looks at what we could do to secure the future of the Yorkshire tourism industry.
​Please make sure your speakers are on. If you have comments, please add them below or email Susan Briggs.