West Yorkshire launches plan to capitalise on Bradford 2025 opportunities

A four-year plan to grow West Yorkshire’s visitor economy has been unveiled in a bid to take advantage of Bradford City of Culture 2025 and raise the region’s profile nationally and internationally.

The move follows West Yorkshire achieving ‘Local Visitor Economy Partnership’ status from VisitEngland, which is a strategic partnership between the region’s five local authorities, chaired by West Yorkshire Mayor Tracy Brabin.

The strategy sets out how the region aims to build a better, more productive visitor economy, attracting more visitors and inward investment to drive growth, create jobs and help businesses thrive.

The partnership will work collaboratively to promote its cities, rural landscapes, national museums and the UNESCO World Heritage Site at Saltaire, and it will continue to harness the rise in film and television productions in the region.

New initiatives

It says investment in new initiatives, and the development of new national cultural institutions like British Library North, the National Poetry Centre and Brit School North will “turbocharge opportunities for the region”.

The strategy will feature an events clash-diary, the cross-selling of products, as well as combined consumer marketing, research, product development and an ambassador programme.

It is also hoped the partnership will result in stronger economies of scale.

Details of the plan come as Bradford UK City of Culture 2025 kicked off at the weekend. The year-long designation is expected to attract over 15 million people and £130m of visitor spend in the economy, supporting the creation of 7,000 new jobs.

‘Once-in-a-generation opportunity’

Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire, said: “This is going to be a truly iconic year for West Yorkshire, with Bradford UK City of Culture 2025 acting as a beacon to attract millions of people from around the world to our region.

“This is just the start for West Yorkshire. With our bold plan, we’re going to build on our heritage to create a brighter future, ensuring these visitors come back for many more years to come.

“We’re harnessing the legacy of this once-in-a-generation opportunity, creating more opportunities through partnership and public investment, and driving forward our ambition for growth in a stronger, brighter West Yorkshire that works for all.”

Andrew Stokes, director of VisitEngland, said: “Great destinations are great places to live and work as well as to visit and strong governance can drive place-shaping and shift local and wider perceptions of the place which can contribute to local pride.

“Well run destinations can also attract new investment, increase income and create new jobs, and this new ambitious strategy for West Yorkshire will be central to achieving that.”