Tourism in Yorkshire is worth £8 billion to the economy

It's being revealed the money Yorkshire makes from tourism is now worth 8 BILLION pounds - and it's thanks to cities like Leeds, Sheffield, Doncaster and Hull.

It's thought major sporting events and the cities' shopping and night time economy have helped.

Welcome to Yorkshire also unveiled multi-million-pound marketing campaigns to boost tourism, which will see the county promoted both domestically and globally.

Over the next 10 years, £5 million is being spent to promote the North York Moors, a million pounds of that will be spent over the next 18 months. A huge campaign is getting underway with adverts in cinemas, radio and on TV as well as in titles such as Cycling Weekly, Marie Claire and Woman and Home.

A million pounds has also been pledged from the Discover England Fund, led by Visit England, to promote Yorkshire as a top cycling holiday destination in Europe. Welcome to Yorkshire will be creating bookable tourism products to target travelers in Germany and the Netherlands.

Sir Gary Verity, Chief Executive of Welcome to Yorkshire said: ‘What an epic event it has been, I couldn’t have wished for a better day for our 10th Y conference. This has been a fantastic showcase for Yorkshire where we’ve made some huge announcements that shows once again Yorkshire is leading the way.’

“It’s fantastic news that tourism in Yorkshire is now worth an incredible £8 billion to the county’s economy. Add to that the record breaking visitor numbers that many of our top attractions have had and it just goes to show just how strong the Yorkshire brand really is. We are on all time high and I couldn’t be prouder of everyone’s hard work. Yorkshire is competing on a global scale to be a top visitor destination.’