Yorkshire snubbed in cash hand-out
Welcome to Yorkshire has complained to the Government after Visit England refused to give it any of the money set aside to help boost tourism because it claimed Yorkshire was not a ‘destination’.
Visit England has allocated £500,000 each to York and Leeds to help promote both Yorkshire cities, but Welcome to Yorkshire said its requests for funding to promote the county as a whole had been rejected.
"They’ve consistently told us that there won’t be money for Welcome to Yorkshire to support Yorkshire as a whole because we’re not a destination," it said. "Try telling that to the thousands of visitors who choose to holiday in Yorkshire every year, or the many tourism businesses who know how important the Yorkshire brand is in helping them to attract visitors."
Welcome to Yorkshire claimed other regions had received cash from the Regional Growth Fund. "If Yorkshire isn’t a destination surely the same logic should apply to Cumbria, Northumberland and Cornwall – yet they’re all benefitting from the same government money, when most of Yorkshire is getting no help at all," it said.
Welcome to Yorkshire claimed it had boosted the visitor economy from £5.9bn to £7bn and created 4,000 jobs, and last week, the former culture secretary Jeremy Hunt singled out the county as "an excellent holiday destination", it claimed.
It is asking people to write to the tourism minister and to James Berresford, Visit England chief executive, to complain about what it described as "illogical and unfair" funding decisions.
By Linsey McNeill
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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