Welcome to Yorkshire needs to bring on board grassroots tourism in the region to recapture success - The Yorkshire Post says

After the tourism agency dramatically collapsed earlier this year its future has lain uncertain.

However, in an interview with this newspaper, Mr Scott has began to lay out a vision for the organisation’s future. Crucially Mr Scott says that Welcome to Yorkshire will no longer be reliant on public money.

This is a welcome first step. For too long the agency has been a drain on cash-strapped local authorities. The fact that he recognises this and wishes to proceed with a new, privately funded model, gives hope that a phoenix can rise from the ashes of the once proud organisation.

Mr Scott’s experience of international business is also to be welcomed. A sound financial footing will be crucial to ensuring it has a viable future.

His focus must now turn inward to the county. For Welcome to Yorkshire to be successful it must be an unflinching champion of grass roots tourism, a sector which felt it had been neglected in recent years.

The new agency must be able top engage with the smallest of guest house and the most far flung of camp sites, as well as the larger and better known tourism and hospitality attractions.

These small entities are the beating heart of Yorkshire tourism, with a plentiful passion for its success.

If Welcome to Yorkshire has them in its camp, it can once again work to put Yorkshire on the global map as one of the most special places to visit worldwide.