Emmerdale and Cook’s museum named among top tourism draws
A VISITOR attraction created in an old car showroom on the outskirts of Leeds city centre has been named one of the best in the country by the tourism agency, Visit England.
The Emmerdale Village Tour is among 76 venues to have been handed “attraction accolades” in recognition of “the quality of visitor experiences across England”.
The centre has been built on the site of a former Lookers garage on Burley Road that was bought by ITV in the 1980s originally as offices and a base for its outside broadcast vehicles.
It now operates as a tourist “day out” for fans of the soap opera, which is filmed at the main studios a few yards away and on location at Harewood.
Visit England also handed the Captain Cook Memorial Museum in Whitby a gold award, and named the RSPB nature reserve at Blacktoft Sands, near Goole, a “hidden gem”. The site is the south bank of the River Ouse, where it widens to become the Humber Estuary, and is home to avocets, bearded tits and hen harriers.
The accolade for the Whitby museum, which is located in the house where James Cook was apprenticed in 1746, follows an announcement in December that it had secured funding to display rare prints of 743 drawings of exotic fauna from the South Seas that were created in the Great Cabin of HMS Endeavour, as it sailed home from its first voyage of discovery in 1771.
The three attractions were handed their accolades based on scores in a “quality assessment”.
Andrew Stokes, director of Visit England, said tourism was worth an estimated £127bn to the UK economy.
He added: “England is home to world-class attractions right across the country, welcoming visitors throughout the year and offering experiences of the highest quality.
“It is really fantastic to see these accolades recognising the work of those employees, managers and owners who make sure that all who pass through their doors have a truly memorable experience.”
England is home to world-class attractions. Andrew Stokes, director of Visit England.