Minister backs York drive to attract visitors

Mr Whittingdale was in York to see the impact of the floods on the city’s tourist trade and how attractions are recovering ready for the February half term and Easter holidays.

He also joined Welcome to Yorkshire chief executive Sir Gary Verity and Virgin Trains east coast managing director David Horne to launch a cut price ticket offer from the rail firm designed to encourage tourists to head to flood-hit regions.

Mr Whittingdale said: “Obviously the floods did get a lot of publicity and a lot of people saw the pictures and that will have stuck in the memory.

“We want to say the city has picked itself up and recovered from that and that all of the many attractions York has to offer, nearly all of them are now open and welcoming visitors.

“In the main York is absolutely back in business and keen to attract as many people as possible.”

Welcoming the rail ticket offer, Sir Gary said: “We know that many businesses that weren’t affected by the floods have seen lower visitor numbers because of the the perception that the whole of Yorkshire was affected.

“This fantastic promotion covers some of the important upcoming holidays including February half-term, Easter and the first May bank holiday weekend which is when the Tour de Yorkshire takes place.”

The Prime Minister announced last week that tourism agency VisitEngland would be given £1 million to help support a new marketing campaign to encourage visitors not to be put off visiting areas hit by the winter floods.

Heathrow Airport has teamed up with VisitBritain to provide £500,000 of marketing space in its terminals for a campaign promoting flood-hit areas.