Tourism in Yorkshire's towns and cities may lose out to countryside hotels and restaurants

Susan Briggs, the director of the Tourism Network in North Yorkshire, revealed that there had been contrasting levels of demand for the reopening of the sector this weekend, with rural areas seeing more interest than those in towns and cities.

The tourism sector is a hugely valuable facet to Yorkshire’s economy, bringing in an estimated £9bn each year.

Ms Briggs, whose network has more than 1,200 members, said the sector was well prepared to begin welcoming guests and customers, but was resigned to a turbulent few months with an ever shifting landscape caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Speaking to The Yorkshire Post, Ms Briggs said: “It’s patchy. I have heard from businesses in Harrogate who, because they have not got any exhibitions and events on, and because it’s a town, they are struggling.

“Whereas in the Dales and the North York Moors, most of the businesses are finding they are filling really, really fast, if they are not full already.”

Ms Briggs said the bookings being taken by rural businesses were predominantly coming from regular customers who were either travelling within Yorkshire or who were regular visitors to the county.

“There is a lot of loyalty for Yorkshire,” she said. “People feel nostalgic for a strong sense of familiarity. Yorkshire is well placed to benefit from that.”

While most of the inquiries being seen by businesses tended to be focused on refunds if local lockdowns are reimposed, there has been a lot of work done by firms to ensure customers and guests are safe, Ms Briggs said.

The last few weeks have seen tourism and hospitality businesses invest a huge amount in signage, enhanced cleaning and ensuring an ease of social distancing. Ms Briggs said many firms have had to refresh what they do and even reported that some new enterprises were planning to open over the summer.

“Many businesses have been badly affected but there has been an element of business thinking about what they do and deciding to do it differently or better, or new ideas coming along,” she added.

“There has been an increase in people looking at moving to the Dales who have been in lockdown in cities and have realised they can work from home anywhere.

“The 1,200 firms that I work with are very well prepared. But the ones on the fringes are not so much, especially if they are catering because they do not have much space.

“They are definitely going to struggle and I think it will be those cafes, and restaurants and some pubs that are going to have the worst time because they simply do not have the space to reopen.”

She added that she knew of a number of businesses that are not going to reopen until next year due to the owners themselves feeling too nervous.

Meanwhile, attractions in York are reopening in the coming days.

City Cruises York is to restart its sightseeing trips along the River Ouse with socially distant cruises.

Sales and marketing manager Mark Mattinson admitted demand had been flat in recent weeks, but it had begun to pick up in recent days as the reopening date drew nearer.

He said: “We have had a 100 per cent increase in traffic to our website and in terms of booking revenue ours has increased by 1,000 per cent.”

Mr Mattinson added that he expected York to fare better than most other towns and cities owing to the quality of attractions and the fact that a large proportion of them are outside.

Hollywood treatment

Efforts are also under way to attract more visitors to the region to boost Yorkshire’s tourism sector.

A 10-minute “Hollywood-style” film which its makers hope will become “a sensation” on social media will promote the region as it reopens its doors to tourists.

The production, which is costing £250,000, will be shot and edited by crew members from James Bond, Star Wars and similar projects, said its producer, Sid Sadowskyj.

His last film, Scott and Sid, an eponymous and autobiographical drama about a pair of school friends who had resolved as teenagers that they would one day be famous, was named best

British film at last year’s National Film Awards in London. He said he was now “calling in favours” from friends in the industry to get the new production off the ground.

“I wanted to get some world-class filmmaking talent to tell the narrative about Yorkshire,” Mr Sadowskyj said. “They have all agreed to work on it at way below their normal fee.”

The tourism agency Welcome to Yorkshire has agreed to work with him on the project.

“Anything that can attract positive attention around the globe and show off Yorkshire’s countryside, its cities and its coastline has to be something we would welcome,” said the agency’s chief executive, James Mason. “We can’t offer funding, but we do have a significant brand and a worldwide social media footprint.”

Mr Sadowskyj has raised £80,000 towards production costs in two weeks and is offering sponsorship packages. An “international A-list star”, who he is prevented by a non-disclosure agreement from naming, has signed on as narrator.

The finished product, which will be ready next year, will be placed on Instagram, Facebook and other platforms to try to attract at least 25 million views and generate enough traction to pique the interest of TV news programmes around the world.