Happy Birthday Yorkshire South!
Yorkshire South Tourism celebrated its second birthday on Thursday 8 May, marking two years of sustained and successful marketing activity promoting the region as a business and leisure tourism destination.
The team marked the occasion in traditional style with a birthday cake and a celebratory glass of champagne in the chic setting of Leopold Square. The Square wasn't there two years ago when Yorkshire South Tourism was formed, and its presence today - a smart, bustling, cosmopolitan public space with bars, restaurants and boutique hotel The Leopold - is itself an indication of how the region has changed and how it might develop in the future.
Yorkshire South Tourism was set-up in 2006 as the sub regional area tourism partnership for the four local authorities in South Yorkshire - Sheffield City Council, Doncaster MBC, Rotherham MBC, and Barnsley MBC - with a brief to act as an agent for change in developing and promoting tourism in the sub region.
Richard Jones, Chief Executive of Yorkshire South commented: "This is a significant milestone for Yorkshire South Tourism and it gives us an opportunity to reflect on what has been achieved so far. According to the respected British Conference Venues Survey, business tourism in South Yorkshire increased by a massive £50m last year. This is a great achievement and something that we are proud to have contributed towards. I am really pleased with the efforts and commitment of the team, our ambassadors and our partners. The success of our first two years has been down to the energy and enthusiasm of tourism professionals across the region, who are not only proud and passionate about their home, but also attuned to the strategic benefits of collaboration."
One of the key successes for the Yorkshire South Tourism team was winning the coveted UK Best Destination Award at International Confex 2008, business tourism's most prestigious event. This was followed by a raft of wins for Yorkshire South venues at Yorkshire Business Insider's Business Tourism awards in March.
One of Yorkshire South Tourism's key initiatives is the Ambassador's Programme, through which a network of passionate and motivated ‘conference ambassadors' promote the region as a destination for society or association events. Since its launch last November the programme has recruited 59 ambassadors and secured nine events for the region.
This activity is further supported by the partnership scheme, whereby tourism businesses buy in to Yorkshire South in order to benefit from its marketing activities and networks. Amongst the 146 members are a wide range of businesses, ranging from small independent operations to large scale visitor attractions.
Chris Welsh, Chair of Yorkshire South, said: "We are delighted with the support of the private sector within our region and many tourism businesses are now benefiting from activity being undertaken by YST or from the help and advice we can give them. The forthcoming year is also an exciting one with lots of new developments getting underway, new hotels opening and exciting new products and exhibitions such as the Vivienne Westwood show at Museums Sheffield: Millennium Gallery which opens later this month. We also look forward to liaising with other area tourism partnerships, Yorkshire Tourist Board and Yorkshire Forward to look at the future of tourism within the wider Yorkshire region."
For further information regarding Yorkshire South Tourism please telephone 0871 7002214 or visit www.yorkshiresouth.com
