So, the publishers of Lonely Planet have named Yorkshire in the top 10 tourist regions for 2014, where it shares the spotlight with destinations like New Zealand’s West Coast, Texas and Mallorca.  To be frank, this isn’t really surprising. As I have blogged before, Yorkshire certainly has it all, including quiet beaches, windswept moorlands and pretty agricultural landscapes;  quaint villages, historic towns, busy cities and seaside resorts; mysterious ruins and stately homes through to cutting-edge venues for performing and visual arts.  As a resident for well over a decade, I’ve barely scratched the surface of Yorkshire’s tourism product. Although that can be explained partly by the fact I live right on the coast and thus not in the heart of the region, it also demonstrates the wealth of what is on offer and, more importantly perhaps, the considerable effort that has been made in recent years by the public, private and third sectors in developing a tourism economy that is able to compete at the highest levels.

Aspirations across the sector are high – for instance, we have award winning restaurants and pubs not resting on their laurels, but instead encouraging their local suppliers to ‘up their game’ as well, so that they can guarantee the highest levels of quality of ingredients across the year. By strengthening local supply chains, Michelin starred restaurants like the Star at Harome, and more modest businesses like Scarborough’s amazing Eat Me café, are not only supporting their local economies but are also promoting a vision of Yorkshire as a place where quality matters. 
Celebrations of place by the many artists’ networks across Yorkshire are another dimension of the growing confidence in the region’s cultural product – events such as York Artists Open Studio Days remind tourists and residents alike of the wide variety of high quality visual and decorative art being produced locally.  And the performing arts are not losing out either – whether it is established venues like the Stephen Joseph Theatre still celebrating the work of Alan Ayckbourn, or the lesser known Pocklington Arts Centre delivering a broad programme of events that appeal to both locals and tourists, we are blessed with a richness of cultural product.
Today’s announcement by Lonely Planet was timely in that it coincided with a trip to Scarborough  -one of the UK’s leading tourist destinations – by 8 students from Leeds Metropolitan University’s MSc programme in Responsible Tourism Management (photo shows Rashad from the USA, and Diana from Uganda, plus three former residents of the town).  We had arranged the trip to let them see at first hand the challenges and solutions associated with 21^st century tourism in a resort that first began attracting tourists way back in the 17^th century and that for a long time didn’t need to work too hard to attract visitors.  However,  the emergence in the 1970s of cheap package holidays to the Mediterranean took away the town’s core business.  After a couple of decades doing very little the Borough Council finally got its act together just over a decade ago and together with trade partners and external agencies such as the now defunct Yorkshire Forward , have embarked on a strategic plan that is refining the target market, bringing the product up to the necessary quality levels and, crucially in my view, is working with the host community to make sure that we get the type of tourism that we want.   With the students representing countries as varied as Vietnam and Peru, Uganda and Spain, this was a great opportunity to share how one small part of Yorkshire’s internationally renowned tourism product is tackling the challenges of developing and sustaining its competitive advantage.
So even the initial presentation on the history of tourism in the resort by Nick Taylor, the Council’s Investment Manager, wasn’t held in the Council building but in a local café so that from the start we were also benefiting a local business. Lunch in another café was followed by a stroll through the Old Town up to the Castle and an examination of how English Heritage is investing in product development and events to make sure that this scheduled ancient monument plays its role in delivering a high quality tourist experience for much of the year

(photo shows a living history event at the castle a couple of years ago – I’m proud of this shot and have been waiting for ages to use it!).  A walk along the seafront to see what a traditional resort still offers was an eye opener for the group, most of who hadn’t been to the UK seaside before. The final port of call before the train back home was the Grand Hotel, where staff laid on a fascinating tour of what was, when it was built, the largest brick-built structure in Europe!

So ... what did they learn today that will stand them in good stead when they take up careers in other destinations striving to retain a relevance in today’s highly competitive global tourism industry?  In general terms, I hope that they understand the importance of a strong and committed public sector that is prepared to take the lead in driving forward strategic planning for tourism, and the need for sustained investment by the private sector to make sure that plans are actually implemented.  More specifically, I hope they appreciate that even on the eastern margins of one of the World’s top 10 tourism regions, we are working hard to deliver the variety and high quality of experience that is necessary to survive as a thriving destination.