THE Countryside Alliance is now a member of the tourism agency Welcome to Yorkshire.

Membership will provide the Countryside Alliance with opportunities to be included in a wide range of benefits such as digital marketing and social networking activities, business tourism marketing and domestic and international exhibitions and a presence on the Yorkshire.com website that attracts five million visitors each year.

Simon Hamlyn, northern regional director for the Countryside Alliance, said: “We hope that we can use this platform to really shout about the great enterprises and communities of rural Yorkshire. Membership will also see us increase our working relationship with rural businesses to enhance the profile of Yorkshire and its reputation.”

Gary Verity, chief executive of Welcome to Yorkshire, said: “We look forward to working closely with the Countryside Alliance to help promote those towns and villages that are so vital to Yorkshire’s tourism economy.”