North of England gets multi-million pound tourism boost
National tourist boards have welcomed the news that Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg is to allocate £10 million to boost tourism in the north of England.
The cash, which will come from the government’s Regional Growth Fund (RGF), will be used to develop a new strategy for tourism in the north.
VisitEngland’s chief executive James Berresford said: "This commitment from Government clearly demonstrates that tourism is being increasingly recognised as a key driver of the economy which creates important jobs throughout the country.
"We will be working closely with our sponsor department DCMS, our local partners and the private sector to devise and implement the strategy to launch next year."
At present, London attracts 4.5 times more international visitors than the north of England as a whole, while Scotland attracts twice as many tourists as Yorkshire and the whole of the northwest.
Clegg said: ‘It’s absurd that our great North is missing out on visitors when it boasts such stunning countryside, history and culture. Through the Northern Futures project, I asked people what our Northern cities needed in order to compete globally, and to grow.
"Your resounding call is clear – a strong Northern future relies on putting the North back on the map: a top tourist destination. From next year, I’m putting funding in place for there to be a clear strategy for tourism in the North, bringing harmony to the current offer from 29 individual tourism boards into one great offer.’
In 2012, VisitEngland received £19.8 million from the RGF and implemented a three-year project, ‘Growing Tourism Locally’. The programme to date has generated a total of £527 million additional tourism spend, it said, and created a record number of 9,800 additional jobs for the sector, beating its target of 9,139 jobs.
VisitBritain said the £10 million allocated for the north would enable tourist destinations in the region to ‘build on their recent success’ and encourage more international visitors to the area.
Sally Balcombe, chief executive at VisitBritain, said visitors spent 16% more in the north of England in 2013 than in the previous year.
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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