Dragon's Den-style fund to offer businesses a route to investment

The project, announced by tourism board Welcome to Yorkshire, will see a panel of experts hear pitches from the industry and then decide whether to invest. The amount of money in the fund has not been confirmed, but is expected to be a seven-figure sum.

Welcome to Yorkshire chief executive Gary Verity said they were open to any ideas that boost tourism in the region.

He said: "We have a fund to spend on either a product or on skills, and the probability is it will be a mixture of both.

"We are open to knew ideas – we are looking for original ideas to bring more people to Yorkshire and raise this region's profile.

"It could be about increasing product, or a festival, improving accommodation or a themed event.

"We want to get rid of the bureaucracy, people can come straight to us, make their pitch and we will decide whether to match their funds.

"We want to grow the region's economy."

Yorkshire is the fastest-growing tourist destination in the UK, thousands of extra visitors pumping millions of pounds into the region's economy, and Mr Verity said the fund would help maintain that momentum.

Recent surveys have revealed visitor numbers rocketed by 31 per cent last summer, making it the fastest growing region for attracting UK visitors.

The new investment fund was announced at Y10, the Welcome to Yorkshire annual conference.

It was joined by the launch of the Welcome to Yorkshire Golf campaign, which aims to actively promote golf breaks in the region to attract a national and international audience, and the Yorkshire Racing Festival which not only offers racing but also live music, prizes and food and will take place between July 17 and 25.

A new advertising campaign, to be rolled out across TV, newspapers and magazines in 2010, was launched, as were new walking trails. They include the Turner Trail, around the painter's favourite locations, and the Larkin Trail, around poet Philip Larkin's old haunts