Tour de France legacy continues to boost Yorkshire tourism

And the continuing warm weather has led to a huge leap in bookings at the Yorkshire coast, with one agency, Expedia, reporting bookings in Scarborough up 109 per cent on last year’s figures.

The country’s leading tourism bosses have been speaking at the annual convention of travel association Abta in the Slovenian capital of Ljubljana, including Butlins bosses, who revealed they consulted with the Mumsnet wesbite on the design of new £16m ‘mum-friendly’ chalets for its Minehead site.

York-based short-break specialist holiday company SuperBreak said tourism in Yorkshire had been boosted by the staging of the Tour de France Grand Depart in the county in July, with Yorkshire revenue up more than 60 per cent year on year.

Peter Westwood, owner of the Stonehouse Hotel near Hawes, North Yorkshire, said the “stupendous” footage of Yorkshire’s countryside during the Grand Depart was “the best advertising” they could have hoped for.

“We have definitely noticed an upturn,” he said. “Compared to last year, we have had a substantial increase.”

The latest figures from Welcome to Yorkshire show visits to the county were up 6 per cent in May, and spend had increased by almost a third, up 28 per cent.

Chief executive Gary Verity said: “The impact of the Tour’s arrival in Yorkshire will be felt not just this year, but for many to come and the profile of Yorkshire has never been higher or more prominent.”

Janet Deacon, tourism manager at Scarborough Borough Council, said the majority of its accommodation and attractions were reporting “excellent” year on year results. She said the Tour de France effect had been felt in the town, and the combination of large events with the good weather had seen visitor numbers soar.

Events like next month’s UK Pro Surf Festival in Scarborough and the Goth Weekend in Whitby were extending the tourism season beyond the traditional end the school holidays.

Michelle Papworth, site manager at the Camping and Caravan Club in Scarborough, said bookings were positively affected by the Tour, despite them not being on the route itself. She said: “We saw an increase in overseas visitors, with people combining a stay here with watching the race.”

Scarborough’s Crown Spa Hotel, the first purpose built resort hotel in England, has seen its busiest season since owners Richard and David Frank took over in 2000. Managing director Richard Frank said the hotel had adapted to the changing needs of tourists, with shorter, room-only stays being more popular than packages.

He added: “People no longer want to book dinner, bed and breakfast, but the flexibility of room-only stays, they book closer to departure.”