How East Riding can become tourism hotspot – Yorkshire Post Letters

READING Susan Brigg’s excellent article ‘Showcase beauty to keep visitors coming’ (The Yorkshire Post, January 1) made me think of my own experiences in tourism in the East Riding.

We have welcomed thousands of visitors to our farm and, in doing so, we have learned a lot. The last year has been severely disrupted by the Covid lockdown, but contrary to Susan’s expectation, it has been one of the most profitable years of all.

Adding in council payments and good insurance, we have done very well while actually doing very little.

Susan talks about collaborations with local food businesses but we have found that they do not trust us to bring them customers. Our visitors have to take what they can find in the ever-changing food offer.

In fact ‘Fantastic Food’ is only a slogan and not a reliable or professional service that actually exists. We are often asked to recommend a good pub or restaurant, but sometimes our guests have a poor experience and that always reflects on us. We are very careful who we recommend.

Food boxes, food suppliers, brewers and drink makers are not part of our tourist offer. They are part of their offer, but not ours. The same can be said for food, music, folk festivals and racing etc. These individual events are not often a reason to spend a week in Yorkshire. They do not bring guests to us; we bring customers to them.

Our guests often come so that extended families can get together, the destination being the property itself, where its size, location and quality is crucial. The right property set in the beauty of the East Riding is all it needs.

From: Tricia Harris, Sheriff Hutton.

WELCOME to Yorkshire is a fatally damaged organisation and brand and is therefore no longer fit for purpose. To paraphrase Lady Bracknell: to lose one chief executive under a cloud may be deemed a misfortune, to lose two looks like downright carelessness.

Personally, I am baffled as to how a private company could take (a great deal of) public money whilst not having to produce publicly accessible accounts.

As Michael Clarke so rightly says in his letter (The Yorkshire Post, January 13), there is a great deal more to Yorkshire than cycling.

The magnificent cities of York and Leeds, the tourism destinations of Saltaire, the Piece Hall in Halifax, the moors, the Dales, the coastline, the walking trails, the gardens, historic houses, castles, concert venues, theatres, opera houses… I could go on and on but I won’t.

Does Yorkshire need a destination management organisation? Yes. Does it need Welcome to Yorkshire? No. Any new body must be publicly accountable and it needs to value its members. They are its reason for existence.

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