Jayne Dowle: I've found a great place for a break... it's called Yorkshire

New research from travel analytics firm ForwardKeys suggests that flight bookings to the UK rose by 7.1 per cent in the four weeks after the vote, with tourists from Asia and the UK particularly keen to book for cheaper holidays. Bookings from Hong Kong rose a staggering 30.1 per cent, and from the US and Canada, more than 10 per cent.

Most interestingly though, trips from Europe were up by five per cent. Whatever our Continental cousins think of our exit from the EU club, it isn’t deterring them from coming to see us.

The boss of The Deep, the mega-aquarium in Hull, says that they have seen more visitors from Germany, Holland and Belgium coming over by ferry, setting this great Northern port firmly on the map for its stint as the UK City of Culture in 2017.

We must applaud this and not let it go unremarked. Those of us who live and work in Yorkshire already know that is a region absolutely jam-packed with delights – from city shopping in Leeds to historic attractions in York, a coastline unrivalled in beauty and variety and acre after acre of rolling countryside.

The challenge has been to tell the rest of the world. This is a job which has been undertaken with great enthusiasm and professionalism by Welcome to Yorkshire, whose boss, Sir Gary Verity, is unstinting in his determination to highlight what Yorkshire has to offer.

It seems that the message has certainly made an impact internationally. But what about closer to home?

It’s good to see from Welcome to Yorkshire that domestic overnight trips to our county rose by 20 per cent in 2015. However, these new figures do not take into account how many UK visitors overall come to Yorkshire, or indeed, how many Yorkshire folk holiday in their own county. So I’d like to make a little plea here. We should all consider taking our holidays at home more often.

I’ll say this as a person who has travelled on holiday to Spain and Devon this year. The trip to Spain was uneventful, to be honest – flying from and to Doncaster Robin Hood airport a breeze – but the journey to the South West? Eight hours’ drive on a Saturday to Woolacombe Bay in North Devon, crawling along the M5 in 50mph zones, and queuing in traffic to get into and out of every service station. The delights of Woolacombe are many – the beach is the best in Britain, apparently – but is it worth it?

We must think twice before heading south like so many lemmings towing caravans. Why do we do it, when coastal spots such as Whitby and Staithes have so much to offer? I understand the desire for adventure. Indeed, I relish it.

In purely practical terms, though, what can we find away that we don’t have at home? Anyone who has been on a motorway for any length of time in recent years will understand that the country is, quite frankly, grinding to a halt. Too many cars, too many roadworks, and a system of motorways and roads which is simply unfit for 21st-century purpose. In practical terms if nothing else, why bother going anywhere else?

It pains me to say it, but I think we’re guilty of taking what we have for granted. It’s not until we have visitors arrive keen to visit Castle Howard or go for a drive through the Yorkshire Dales that we stop and consider what is really around us. I suppose that these new tourism findings prompt us to do this on a grand scale.

I could write a list, if you wanted, of all the places we have in Yorkshire which prove why we are worthy of a visit. However, you only have to look at your own town, city or village to see them for yourself. What would be more useful to direct our thoughts towards is how we build on what we have to ensure that tourism becomes a staple of a strong regional economy.

Welcome to Yorkshire says that tourism is already worth £7bn annually, and there are already 216 million visits to Yorkshire each year, more than Walt Disney Attraction theme parks worldwide. This is a phenomenal achievement and one that offers a great base from which work from.

If we – as a region – can develop this and really embrace this recent increase in visitor numbers, we can make tourism an unshakeable and sustainable cornerstone of the Yorkshire economy.

This will underline and add credence to our bid to become the engine room of the North (I hesitate to say Northern Powerhouse). It will give people jobs, and our youngsters a career to aim for. There is nothing to be gained now by looking back and weeping over our past industrial glories. We must look forward towards the sun, and hope that it shines for everyone who chooses to take their holiday here.