ABSTRACT

The Yorkshire and Humber region covers 15,413 sq km and has a population of around 5 million people. It contains some of England’s most scenic landscapes, including the North York Moors National Park and parts of the Yorkshire Dales and Peak District National Parks. Tourism is important economically for the region, particularly the rural areas. It is estimated that tourism is now worth £6.3 billion to the regional economy (Yorkshire Forward 2008). Tourism supports almost 245,000 jobs, around 11 per cent of the total workforce, in over 23,000 businesses, mostly small. Most of the tourism is domestic, from within the UK, although there are 1.2 million overseas visitors annually. The region accounts for 10 per cent of England’s domestic tourist trips and 9 per cent of total spend (Yorkshire Tourist Board 2008).