Emergency £25,000 funding for tourist body is approved

CRAVEN DISTRICT Council has approved plans to give emergency funding of £25,000 to Welcome to Yorkshire.

Without funding of £1.4m from local authorities across the region, Welcome to Yorkshire says it could not continue to operate and the organisation would have to close, leaving no structure in place for managing the region’s tourism at a critical time.

The agency has been seeking a total of £1.4m from local authorities as a result of a black hole in its finances caused by the loss of expected business rates funding and the suspension of private members’ fees due to the coronavirus pandemic, warning that without the money it would be forced to close.

At a council meeting on August 5, councillors agreed the recommendation of Policy Committee to support the funding.

Craven District Council leader, Coun Richard Foster, said after the meeting: “Welcome to Yorkshire has had a chequered past, but it is a different organisation now and I believe we need to support it, now more than ever.

“We know our tourism industry has suffered immensely due to the Covid-19 crisis and we need help to extend the tourism season and support our businesses through the winter and into 2021.”

It comes after the first sets of regional councils agreed to the agency’s bailout request.

Sheffield City Region, along with contributions from Sheffield, Doncaster, Rotherham and Barnsley councils, has agreed to hand the cash-strapped organisation £300,000 of public money.

North Yorkshire County Council separately approved £215,000 of funds.