Warm welcome with local flavour
New breed of visitors want to ‘get under skin’, delegates told by Danish city that declared tourism ‘over’
TOURISM: Local knowledge is what visitors to Yorkshire’s cities value most, delegates to a tourism convention in York are to be told. Guest speaker Signe Jungerstad, from Copenhagen, says today’s tourists want to “connect” with a place.
IN THE West Country they were grockles and in Yorkshire, ofcumdens – out-of-towners to be tolerated rather than welcomed, and to be greeted with a shrug, if at all.
But in an age in which travel information is shared by “social influencers” instead of brochures, and thousands employed in the pursuit of tourism, residents and guests in the county’s biggest visitor hotspot have found themselves singing from the same hymn sheet.
Local knowledge of homegrown customs, such as attending the choral Evensong at the Minster or taking tea on the restored Countess of York carriage at the National Railway Museum, is what visitors to a city value most, delegates to the annual tourism convention in York will be told later this month.
The keynote speaker will be Signe Jungerstad, director of development from the Danish capital of Copenhagen, which two years ago declared the “end of tourism as we know it” and the beginning of “localhood”, an attempt to give guests almost as much local knowledge as those who had lived there for years.
She said: “What people want more and more is to connect with a place, get to know the locals and their personal recommendations.
“The travel industry is entering an era of change and it’s time to welcome the new traveller.”
York and Copenhagen, she said, had “much in common – a vibrant cultural scene, worldclass museums and a strong local pride for what’s on our doorstep”.
Kay Hyde at Make It York, which promotes the city internationally, said one of the questions most asked by visitors was, ‘What do the locals do?’
Rising to the challenge, several groups of entrepreneurs were offering visitor-focused “taste tours” of the city’s best restaurants and pubs, and bicycle tours of its nooks and crannies.
“It’s about getting under the skin of the city, especially for second and thirdtime visitors who might have seen the Minster but perhaps not realised they could go back for Evensong and have a fabulous experience surrounded by incredible music,” Ms Hyde said.
Visitors were also being tempted outside the city centre by initiatives such as that on the part of Bishopthorpe Road south of the ancient walls, rebranded Bishy Road by its independent traders. Another group of enthusiasts staged a weekendlong festival of the walls last summer. “What we’re finding is that a lot of our visitors want to get recommendations from local people about what there is to do on the ground – and people are sharing advice a lot more on social media. We’re hoping to expand on that by working more with social influencers like blogs aimed at family audiences,” Ms Hyde said.
“They way people receive their information is all changing. They like to pick up a brochure when they’re here but they are also just as likely to look on Instagram.”
Paul Whiting, head of Visit York, said the city had to “pull out all the stops” to stand out.
The tourist conference will take place at York Racecourse on January 24.
The travel industry is entering an era of change.
Signe Jungerstad, director of development from the Danish capital of Copenhagen.
THE EXTENT to which we are all invested in tourism these days is demonstrated by the nature of the new season’s campaign in York, which relies on local residents as much as brochures to show the city’s visitors a good time.
The tourist authority has taken a leaf out of Copenhagen’s book. There, something that translates as “localhood” is being harnessed to take guests beyond the obvious attractions of the Tivoli Gardens and the Little Mermaid statue, in the hope that they might get under the skin of the place.
“What do the locals do?” is said to be the most-asked question in York by tourists, and several groups of entrepreneurial residents have sprung up, attempting to supply answers such as attending the choral Evensong at the Minster.
There used to be an expression for visitors to Yorkshire – “ofcumdens” – which betrayed the county’s traditional wariness of strangers. We are glad to hear that they have now been placed on equal terms.