Festive tourism boost for seaside towns - council

North Yorkshire's coast enjoyed a tourism boost thanks to a "hugely successful" series of events at the end of last year, councillors are to be told.

Record crowds attended events in Scarborough, Whitby and Filey, according to a report to be seen by North Yorkshire councillors later this week.

In the report, Councillor Simon Myers, executive member for culture and arts, said a pantomime at Scarborough Spa, featuring Anne Hegarty from TV's The Chase, was "a huge success with sales far exceeding any previous pantos at the venue".

The report's findings came as the council was set to launch a marketing campaign seeking to position North Yorkshire as a "must-visit destination", Myers said.

Whitby Pavilion had also seen "an extremely busy December, including nearly 2,000 people attending the cinema", Myers added.

Meanwhile, Scarborough's Live Advent Calendar in December was attended by at least 150,000 people, and ticketed events were attended by about 7,000 people, the report said.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, a full meeting of North Yorkshire Council on Thursday would also hear that the planned "There's More to North Yorkshire" marketing campaign was expected to focus on myth-busting some perceptions about the county.

In the report, Councillor Mark Crane, executive member for open to business, explained: "The campaign will take place between May and July to coincide with the launch of the new website."

Tourism sector drop-in events were planned over the next few months to offer businesses the opportunity to meet members of the authority's tourism team, the report said.

Last week, representatives of tourism organisation Visit North Yorkshire attended a major conference in London to help promote the region.

Council officers continued to hold meetings with Make it York, City of York Council and Visit England on a monthly basis to continue development of the authority's local visitor economy partnership, Crane said.

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