Mayor Tracy Brabin: West Yorkshire needs “high quality hotels” to host stars like Tom Cruise

Tracy Brabin said there was a shortage of luxury hotels for visitors to stay in outside of Leeds.

She said there’d been “panic” about where Samuel L Jackson was going to stay when he was filming at Halifax’s Piece Hall for the latest Marvel Film in 2022.

Cruise himself was spotted in North Yorkshire in 2021 as scenes were shot for the latest Mission Impossible film, which was released this year.

It comes as the region tries to drum up more appetite for tourism, following the collapse of Welcome to Yorkshire.

But a report by the West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA) said “limited hotel capacity outside of Leeds” was a “challenge”, when compared to others across the North of England.

Picking up on the issue at a WYCA culture committee meeting on Friday, Calderdale councillor Jenny Lynn said that the local authority there had recently put a 16th century building up for sale.

“It would make a fabulous hotel,” she added.

Mayor Brabin replied: “We need a fabulous hotel where Tom Cruise can stay!

“Because when Samuel L Jackson came to Piece Hall everyone was panicking, thinking ‘where’s he going to stay?'”

Mayor Brabin added that when the region’s top hotels are full, “we are a little bit stymied.”