Practical help for visitors to Pennine Yorkshire

The West Yorkshire Tourism Partnership has launched a free advisory ‘toolkit’ to help tourism businesses increase the number of group travellers visiting the region and grab a share of the estimated £64.5 million* generated annually by group visitors.

Produced by Leeds & Pennine Yorkshire Group Travel – the new ‘one-stop’ group booking service for the region - the 34-page toolkit is designed for use by accommodation providers, visitor attractions, restaurants and retail outlets in the West Yorkshire area.

It contains valuable information about the group market and provides step-by-step instructions for developing facilities and promotional activities to generate more group business and increased profitability.

Tourism businesses can obtain a copy of the toolkit free of charge by visiting tourismnetwork.co.uk/groups for further information.

Jo Farrington, on behalf of the West Yorkshire Tourism Partnership, said: “The group travel market is already big business for West Yorkshire, but we want to increase this further. With groups tending to book ahead, group travel is often less prone to fluctuations in the economy.

“However, we want to continue building on our current visitor levels and hope by offering additional services to group travel organisers, we can give extra support to tourism businesses and help them build their group business.”

*Research carried out on behalf of the West Yorkshire Tourism Partnership in 2008 by QA Research, revealed that the group travel market is worth an estimated £64.5 million. Figures are based on an average spend per day (£32.57) and overnight trips (£56.78) multiplied by the average length of stay at 6.69 nights and the average number of trips taken in the area.)