Substantial steps have been taken in Yorkshire’s tourism recovery plan progression as Welcome to Yorkshire reveal some very encouraging data, suggesting interest in the county as a place to visit has dramatically increased as the UK re-emerges from lockdown.
In the month of May, www.yorkshire.com saw traffic increase by 47% compared to April with 91% of visitors clicking on the website for the first time. Traffic to members’ listing pages saw an increase of 45% with links directly to member websites also up by 42%.
In the last few weeks the decision to rebrand the organisation’s membership social media feeds, to have a greater focus on industry specific news, has paid off with visitors turning to www.Industry.yorkshire.com for information and guidance on COVID-19 specific related content.
Traffic to the industry website during May was up by 52%,with again a big increase from new visitors (85%). The most popular pages visited related to a series of ‘tourism recovery plan’ webinars which were oversubscribed on each occasion.
This positive news for Yorkshire’s visitor economy comes ahead of the tourism organisation’s decision to release a recovery plan for the region under the banner of
Reopen, Recover and Rebuild.
Welcome to Yorkshire Chief Executive James Mason said “I have made no secret about the fact that we have so much digital potential going forward and this can provide valuable insight for the industry and key decision makers. We saw a big volume of organic impressions across our social accounts in April when lockdown really kicked in reaching 4,108,503 accounts in April alone, up by 24% compared to March. Our creative and digital team, in fact the whole organisation, has worked non-stop since COVID-19 struck. Our aim was to lead from the front with engaging, yet important, information for the industry. I think these statistics prove more than ever that Welcome to Yorkshire is a viable proposition, but more importantly has a huge part to play in the region’s recovery, both as an economy and tourist destination. The suggestion is that the UK ‘staycation’ market is really set to boom.”
Welcome to Yorkshire also saw a big increase in their social media engagement across the last six weeks, with Twitter, Facebook, Instagram & LinkedIn all seeing great growth.
Digital Director Pete Wilson explained “We have to be encouraged by visitor volume and engagement across all platforms and it is something we have worked hard to achieve. Since formal lockdown began we have seen a reach of 9,709,714. This is reinforced with a huge increase of new visitors coming to our sites to see what Yorkshire has to offer. Which is a really positive step forward in challenging times.”
Tom Ashurst, digital marketing manager added, “Our change in Twitter address for the industry updates, from @wtymembership to @wtyindustry was a subtle but important one. We have seen an increase in followers and interaction on the back of this which all bodes well for the future.”
Welcome to Yorkshire have accepted the challenge to act as the conduit for the region’s crucial tourism resurgence now and post-COVID-19, collaboratively working with the county’s business and tourism representatives on a robust recovery plan. With the aim to reopen, recover and rebuild our much-loved attractions and locations, following current and changing Government guidelines, when the time is right. For some this has already happened, for others the planning part is well underway. Ensuring businesses are prepared is of paramount importance, as the Yorkshire tourism sector is worth £9bn to the county’s economy and employs almost 225,000 people, but has taken a big hit as a result of the coronavirus crisis. Now more than ever, it’s crucial to work as #YorkshireTogether to support a safe, sustainable future and promote all that it has to offer.
