Tourism chiefs set sights on creating 3,000 jobs

The blueprint for the next decade aims to boost the number of people working in tourism on the stretch of coastline from Whitby to Filey from 15,520 to 18,625, an increase of 20 per cent.

A target will also be set to increase the value of tourism to the economy by five per cent a year to £755m by 2024. And it is hoped the number of day visits to the area will go up by two million to 8.5 million with overnight stays rising from 1.4 million to two million.

Scarborough Council’s cabinet member for tourism and culture, David Chance, said: “By 2024 the aim is for the Yorkshire Coast to not only offer a great visitor experience, but a true destination of choice for potential visitors.

“Visitors are becoming more discerning, so the industry must continue to invest to raise the quality on offer or risk losing out on this lucrative business.”

If approved, the new strategy will see the area covered by the council marketed to visitors as “Yorkshire’s Coast” highlighting the attraction of Whitby, Scarborough, Filey and the North York Moors. Advertising will focus on the themes of culture, cuisine, countryside and coast, with those looking for second holidays and short breaks the major targets.

The strategy is considered necessary to maintain Scarborough’s position as one of the top five destinations for overnight stays and keep satisfaction levels at 98 per cent.

Welcome to Yorkshire chief executive Gary Verity said: “We’ve been working closely with Scarborough on this and look forward to continuing to support the town and our coastal region’s visitor economy.

“Scarborough remains one of the leading holiday destinations in the country, so it’s great to see them looking to take it forward.

“Tourism is Yorkshire’s third biggest sector and an economic powerhouse. Since Welcome to Yorkshire launched, we’ve grown the value of Yorkshire tourism from £5.9bn to over £7bn and in the process secured and created jobs. Tourism has never been more important to the county and UK than it is today.”

The number of overnight stays in Scarborough has fallen in the last eight years but the amount visitors spend has risen by 10 per cent. As a result, the strategy will focus on persuading more visitors to turn day trips into overnight stays and on convincing more people to return.

The area has long benefited from visits by fans of the ITV programme Heartbeat and the council is keen to explore opportunities for more films and television programmes to use the coast as a location. The tourism strategy suggests investment will be needed to attract visitors, with ideas including upgrading accommodation, revamping Scarborough Art Gallery and regenerating redundant buildings.

Work will be carried out to turn The Crescent into a “cultural quarter” with investment also into Peasholm Park. The strategy also calls for investment in improving the skills of the thousands of people employed in tourism businesses in the district.

A report to the council says: “There is no doubt that the visitor economy sector is resilient even in times of recession and its labour-intensive nature creates more jobs than many sectors. However, its image of low pay, part-time and seasonality has to change and the need to make the workforce more professional is of paramount importance to raise the sector’s standing,”

Scarborough Council’s cabinet is set to discuss the tourism strategy tomorrow.