Plan for Yorkshire councils to help boost tourism

A call has gone out for Yorkshire's 22 councils to join forces and promote the county as a leading tourism destination.

The aim is to draw more visitors to the region through councils across Yorkshire working together to position it as a major destination for domestic and overseas visitors, and build on the success of the Welcome to Yorkshire tourism campaign, which earlier this month received a World Travel Award for the second year running.

The Yorkshire Post has reported that Barry Dodd, chairman of the York, North Yorkshire and East Riding Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), has called for chief executives of the region's 22 councils to gather for a tourism summit and come up with strategies to promote the area.

Mr Dodd said: "We should make sure that the local authorities get together and work out how to get a bigger bang for their buck from tourism.

"We have got the best brand of the lot and we should take advantage of it. Tourism boosts the rural and urban economies. It produces immediate benefits."

National tourism body Visit Britain launched a new initiative earlier this month to encourage more people to travel to Britain. As part of its Share Your Great Britain campaign, the organisation has called on members of the public to encourage their friends and relatives across the world to visit the UK in 2012.