Eyes have it as tourist drive looks to locals

Now a series of four films have been produced to promote the national park seen through their eyes as well as visitor attractions and businesses in a bid to showcase some of the treasures the area has to offer as efforts are made to boost tourist numbers.

The village of Goathland, which featured in ITV’s popular show, Heartbeat as well as the first Harry Potter film, has already captivated viewers but in recent times the area has seen a decline in tourists.

In 2011, tourism was worth £434m to the national park’s economy but a recent report considered by park authority members warned there was evidence its value to the local economy has declined over the past six years.

Now in a bid to bring the visitors back local people and businesses have been drafted in to help promote the region.

Sonia Leeming, the owner of Hawnby Stores and tea room, in Hawnby, which features in one of the films, hopes it will give visitors the benefit of local knowledge and inspire more people to visit the national park and learn more about the parts they may not be as familiar with.

“Anything that we can do to get people into the moors is a bonus,” she said.

“I think a lot of people think about places linked to Bram Stoker’s Dracula and TV’s Heartbeat but there’s lots of other interesting places to visit as well.

“There’s lots and lots of gorgeous villages. There’s certainly a lot of pride in our village and we certainly want people to come and visit.”

Hal Redvers-Jones of the Whitby Jet Heritage Centre, which also features, said Whitby was dependent upon tourists and anything that promoted the area was welcome.

In 2007 visitor numbers were at around 10.8 million a year, compared with 10.2 million in 2010 but it is hoped that the new tourism drive could increase visitor numbers to 11.9m by 2015.

The films have been produced to promote the distinctiveness of the region and to encourage visitors to stay longer and spend more time here.

The four individual films tell the stories of the people who live and work in the area.

They capture the beauty of the North York Moors through stunning shots of the landscape, the Milky Way over Dalby Forest and the Howardian Hills, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Catriona Mclees, head of promotion and tourism for the North York Moors National Park Authority, said: “As video has become such a popular and effective way to promote an area, we were keen to have our own films that capture the area’s special qualities and show just how beautiful the North York Moors is to potential visitors.

“As well as being featured on our website, the films are available for tourism businesses to use for free.”

The films were made with the North York Moors Tourism Network, an informal network open to any tourism business such as accommodation providers, visitor attractions, shops, pubs, restaurants and craftspeople, by video producer Classlane Media.

They are now available for businesses to use in their own marketing to promote the area and encourage more people to visit the North Yorks Moors.

David Beasley, managing director for Classlane Media, urged tourism businesses in the area to make best use of the films.

“We know from experience that showing compelling stories using film engages your audience,” he said. “Online film is becoming an important part of the way people plan or book trips and research suggests that it greatly influences travellers’ destination planning.

“There are few areas of the UK so visually stunning as the North York Moors so they are perfect for this type of marketing and I’m sure the films will persuade many people to spend time there.”