Bradford City of Culture 2025 and Leeds 2023 can drive West Yorkshire tourism boom, suggests Tracy Brabin

Ms Brabin said that with the Leeds 2023 Year of Culture and Bradford hosting City of Culture in 2025, along with a host of other events planned across the region in the near future, West Yorkshire can build on the “rolling nature” of the high-profile events.

Speaking at an event in Leeds organised by the Centre for Cities think tank, Ms Brabin was asked whether she was concerned about the impact on tourism from the recent demise of the Welcome to Yorkshire tourism agency and for her views on future marketing arrangements for the region.

Ms Brabin said: “I want to see more city-led tourism. Here in West Yorkshire we have got Brontë Country, a Unesco cinema in Bradford and the Yorkshire Sculpture Park.

“We have so much to sing and dance about – our canals and our rivers, the Pennines.

“I think we need to pivot more towards those long weekend breaks.

“I know Leeds city station has gone beyond pre-pandemic levels at the weekend. There is a market for it.”

She added that West Yorkshire has an ideal opportunity to experience a tourism boom in the next few years.

“Over the next four years, this is going to be a real tourist hotspot because of Leeds 2023, Kirklees Year of Music which brings people from all over the world, then Wakefield have got a year of culture and we’ve got Calderdale’s year of culture and then we have Bradford City of Culture 2025.

“The rolling nature of that is going to make West Yorkshire the go-to place for cultural tourism.”

Bradford was named as the UK’s next City of Culture last month.

The city beat fellow finalists County Durham, Southampton and Wrexham County Borough to the coveted title.

Those behind the bid estimated the UK City of Culture 2025 title could bring an extra £700m into Bradford district, creating 3,000 jobs and attracting around 1.1 million visitors.

They said Bradford will receive £275,000 in initial seed funding as it develops its plans for 2025, which are set to feature more than 1,000 new performances and events including 365 artist commissions, a series of major arts festivals and major national and international collaborations.

Those involved in the campaign said the win is a “game-changer” for the district – which includes Bradford, Keighley, Ilkley, Haworth, Shipley and Bingley – and will put it “firmly on the national and international stage”.

A creative director and a managing director will be appointed this year to lead the delivery.

Since winning the title, current holder Coventry has seen more than £172m invested in music concerts and the UK’s first permanent immersive digital art gallery, as well as a further £500m for the city’s regeneration, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport said.

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