Tracy Brabin leading bid to establish new West Yorkshire tourism body

North Yorkshire Council confirmed in May that it and other parts of Yorkshire are developing their own localised proposals for what are known as Local Visitor Economy Partnerships (LVEPs) - the Government’s new name for tourism boards previously formally called Destination Management Organisations.

It is intended there will be new LVEPs across five areas – North, South and West Yorkshire, East Riding and York.

More details have now been revealed about the West Yorkshire proposal, which involves the mayoral authority and the region’s five local councils.

Ms Brabin, who would chair the new body, said: “We’re already on the map thanks to our vibrant cities and heritage-rich towns, offering cultural masterpieces and spectacular scenery in abundance - with the likes of Happy Valley and Gentleman Jack literally showcasing our magnificent region to the world in recent years.

“Combining our strengths will allow us to represent every aspect of West Yorkshire’s tourism sector, as we focus on attracting more visitors and helping our businesses thrive for years to come.”

The five local authorities and West Yorkshire Combined Authority plan to submit the joint application to national tourism agency, VisitEngland, later this month.

It is possible a formal Yorkshire-wide organisation could still ultimately come into being.

The Government has granted £2.25m to North East England to pilot what is known as a Destination Development Partnership running across seven local authority areas over the next couple of years.

The partnerships are envisioned as a higher-ranking body to LVEPs and could be rolled out to other areas such as Yorkshire if the pilot proves successful.

But the situation presents a further delay to any creation of a region-wide replacement to Welcome to Yorkshire.

When council leaders announced in March 2021 they would stop funding Welcome to Yorkshire following a series of reputational and financial scandals, they said work would begin on the creation of a new regional DMO to replace it.

The Leaders’ Board attempted to buy the WtY name and assets from administrators but was outbid by private firm Silicon Dales.

In January this year, North Yorkshire Council leader Carl Les said a "modest" pan-Yorkshire tourism body would be set up following agreement by the Yorkshire Leaders' Board, which is made up of 22 council leaders plus mayors Tracy Brabin and Oliver Coppard.

A separate statement from the Leaders’ Board had said that the work of the DMO would be overseen by Barnsley Council with an anticipated start date in April this year.

But in May a new statement by the Leaders’ Board changed the position to describe the overarching regional work as a “partnership”. It follows Visit Hull and East Yorkshire being granted LVEP status in April alongside 11 other tourism organisations nationally.