‘Staycation’ surge in the offing for two Yorkshire towns

The company TripAdvisor has named the Wensleydale market town of Leyburn and Pennine West Yorkshire’s Huddersfield as showing big increases in interest from UK-based website users.

The numbers of people looking at information on Leyburn rose 349 per cent and interest in Huddersfield was up by 236 per cent on last year.

A company spokeswoman said it could not release the raw data because the information on actual website visitors was commercially sensitive.

In order, the top 10 were: Leyburn; Christchurch, Dorset; Skegness; Bognor Regis; New Milton, Hampshire; Huddersfield; Woolacombe, Devon; Windsor; Ipswich and Poole.

The company’s Emma Shaw said: “With ‘staycations’ still popular we wanted to find out which UK towns have captured the attention of British travellers this year.

“With Huddersfield experiencing such a significant increase in interest on TripAdvisor, it can hopefully look forward to a bumper 2013 for tourism.”

On Leyburn, the firm said: “The town is already a popular destination but this significant rise in traveller interest may be explained by its appearance in the ITV show The Dales.

“Presented by Adrian Edmondson, the show follows residents of the Dales and is set to run a third series in 2013 following two popular series in 2011 and 2012.”

Huddersfield’s popularity was put down to its scenery and sporting history.

A spokesman said: “Apart from beautiful scenery, the town also boasts an interesting history, including being the birthplace of rugby league. The town’s proximity to such stunning scenery coupled with its links with sport make Huddersfield a hit with British travellers.”

London was outside the top 10, despite the excitement generated by the Olympics. The capital saw an increase in interest of 116 per cent – less than all the destinations in the top 10.

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