Tourism bosses have heralded the strength of the industry in North Yorkshire after the first county-wide study of visitor economy recorded 31 million people spending a collective £4 billion last year.
Visit North Yorkshire, which was set up following the collapse of Welcome to Yorkshire, revealed the huge figures at the Great Yorkshire Show, while admitting the tourism industry continues to face significant challenges.
The North Yorkshire Council-run body is aiming to capitalise on the county’s brand, using well-known destinations as anchors to allow visitors to explore the more of the county.
The authority’s leader, Councillor Carl Les, said: “The value of the visitor economy must not be underestimated which is why we have made it a priority for us.”
Gemma Rio, the authority’s head of tourism said among the “both pleasing and surprising” findings of the study had been that the average length of stay for visitors in North Yorkshire was four nights, while the average across the UK was 2.8 nights.
She said: “We are significantly ahead of the average because people like to visit multiple destinations in North Yorkshire, so visitors do extend their stay. That’s really important because overnight stays are where the money is for our visitor economy.
“In North Yorkshire we are feeling very positive, these figures show the visitor economy performed very well in 2023 and gives us confidence as we head into the peak season.”
The report also found tourism in county supported 38,486 jobs, through direct and indirect jobs, making up 13 per cent of employment in the county.
While the tourism body believes having an understanding of the value of the visitor economy will be key for its future visitor promotion work, the county’s tourism industry is still facing twin challenges from the cost of living crisis and staff recruitment.
Ms Rio said it appeared for many areas the hospitality businesses were 2not suffering as much as they did post-Covid” in finding staff.
She said Visit North Yorkshire recently became an accredited local visitor economy partnership with York and among its priorities was examining how the councils could support the industry to tackle the staffing issue.
Ms Rio said; “It’s a difficult challenge because it’s a national issue and not something one organisation could fix, so we want to bring together a number of key players.
“Some areas are suffering more than others, but it’s something we are hoping to address collectively.”