Yorkshire needs to take full advantage of increased appreciation of heritage to boost our tourist economy - Andrew Vine

That’s terrific news not just for the Abbey, but for Whitby, which will have seen a lot of trade as a result.

There is even better news for the whole of Yorkshire in the figures. Visitor numbers are up at all the historic sites English Heritage cares for, in some cases spectacularly so.

At Mount Grace Priory, near Northallerton, there was a 47 per cent jump. Aldbrough Roman site near Boroughbridge saw a 30 per cent increase, Pickering Castle 18 per cent, Richmond Castle 16 per cent and York’s Clifford’s Tower three per cent.

When it revealed these buoyant figures at the end of last week, English Heritage suggested that the increases were attributable to visitors discovering historic gems during the Covid staycations of 2021 and so enjoying them that they took their 2022 holidays here instead of abroad.

There’s probably a great deal of truth in that and Yorkshire needs to take full advantage of this increased appreciation of heritage to boost our tourist economy.

These visitor numbers are evidence of a growing public appetite to learn about the past, as well as enjoy the timeless beauty of places like Mount Grace or Whitby Abbey, and our county is perfectly placed to capitalise on it.

Nowhere else in the country has a more multifaceted heritage than we do, embracing faith, fighting, industrial innovation, exploration, the arts and sport. A vast amount of Britain’s story has ‘made in Yorkshire’ stamped on it, and we need to start shouting about that more loudly than we are, for our own benefit.

Whether it is coast or country, town or city, there is a richness and depth to our history that should be promoted not only by national bodies like English Heritage or the National Trust, but from within this region.

Hopefully, that will start to happen in a couple of months’ time, when a new tourism promotion organisation is set up by council leaders from across Yorkshire.

Last year’s demise of Welcome to Yorkshire in the wake of scandal and financial chaos was inevitable, but it did leave a massive gap in the promotion of our county as a whole, however much good work individual areas do in attracting visitors.

A new county-wide drive to bring tourists in cannot start soon enough, because without it, we are potentially losing out on a lot of money that Yorkshire’s economy needs.

On the last Welcome to Yorkshire figures, tourism is worth £9bn a year to us and employs 225,000 people.

Behind those headline figures lie thousands of stories of small independent businesses who are the backbone of our tourist economy, whether bed-and-breakfasts, tearooms or shops everywhere from the Dales to the coast.

Over the past couple of years, I’ve talked to lots of them who still bear the financial scars of Covid lockdowns.

They’ve survived – just, in several cases – and if a new influx of visitors can be tempted to explore Yorkshire’s heritage, their spending could ease some serious worries for people who put everything into their businesses and came perilously close to losing them through no fault of their own.

It isn’t only the English Heritage figures that point to the value of this market. Visit England’s analysis of what tourists like to do when they come to Yorkshire reveals that 25 per cent head for historic or heritage attractions.

There is a golden opportunity here for a new tourism body to sell the county to these people. Promoting Yorkshire’s heritage will need to be at the heart of any strategy.

If visitors are flocking to Whitby Abbey and Clifford’s Tower, then they are likely to be keen on exploring other historic sites, perhaps as part of a Yorkshire-wide heritage trail that encourages people to stay for a few days and guides them around the county.

From ancient sites like the Stonehenge of the north, Thornborough Henges, which is about to reopen, to the great stately homes like Harewood or Castle Howard, to places that speak of social or industrial history, such as Saltaire, the breadth of our heritage is immense and if packaged imaginatively would surely increase our income from tourism.

The jump in visitors to English Heritage sites points to this being a prize well within Yorkshire’s grasp, and we ought to be going all out to win it.