Bumper Easter weekend (From Gazette & Herald)

Bumper Easter weekend

RYEDALE'S holiday season got off to a bumper start with hotels and attractions reporting excellent business over the Easter weekend.

The fillip coincides with news that Ryedale's hotel and catering trade industry got an £18m boost after a campaign by Yorkshire Tourist Board urging tourists to visit the region.

Steve Jacques, chairman of Ryedale Tourism Association and head of the popular Eden Camp, at Malton, said: "I have had very positive feedback from members. It seems to have been an excellent weekend - it certainly was at Eden Camp."

Mr Jacques said hotel and guest house owners reported excellent bookings for the coming summer season.

"Everyone has been full of praises for Ryedale Council's holiday guide - it is splendid and obviously going to play a key part in the success of the district tourist industry this year."

While Ryedale District Council's official value of tourism to the local economy is put at £96m, Mr Jacques said surveys carried out by the association showed the figure was nearer £110m.

Of the 400 businesses involved in the tourism industry, 250 are members of the influential Ryedale Tourism Association. "We have a first-class relationship with the district council - in fact I think we are the envy of many similar associations. By working with the council we ensure that all our efforts go in the right direction. We have a splendid partnership with RDC."

He added: "I don't think there are many businesses in Ryedale which do not benefit in some way from the tourist industry."

At Eden Camp, prospects are good for the summer, with a large number of school bookings up to the end of July. "Ryedale has a great deal to offer the tourist with its wide range of attractions and spectacular scenery," said Mr Jacques.

Staff at the tourist information centres at Malton, Pickering and Helmsley were at full stretch throughout the Easter weekend dealing with tourists' inquiries and helping them to find accommodation.

The Yorkshire Tourist Board says its £1.5m campaign, funded by Yorkshire Forward, launched last September in the wake of the foot and mouth disease outbreak, had been "an overwhelming success."

Heather Hancock, Yorkshire Forward's environment director, said response rates to the six-month campaign had been analysed and it was found that some 57,000 extra visitors visited the county. Figures showed that about £18m had been generated for the regional economy - £12m going directly to the hotel and catering sector and £6m to other industries, creating and safeguarding 800 jobs, directly and indirectly.

She said research carried out as a result of the campaign - which was concentrated in the South-East and the Midlands - showed real benefits in mounting a concerted and co-ordinated campaign to drive tourism back to such areas as Ryedale.

"Yorkshire Forward has invested more of its own money than any other regional development agency - £6 million - in foot and mouth disease recovery. The biggest single sum of £1.5 million was invested directly into the campaign to promote tourism, one of the region's largest industries, with rural tourism alone worth £1.7 million to the economy."

Hotels, attractions, caravan and car parks on the Yorkshire Coast were also busy, with holiday accommodation at a premium, especially at Whitby where the town's new £5.7 million visitor centre was opened at Whitby Abbey.

Updated: 09:34 Thursday, April 04, 2002