Piece Hall boss lands role to aid tourism’s recovery
WELCOME TO Yorkshire has announced CEO of Halifax’s Piece Hall Trust Nicky ChanceThompson as the chair of their Tourism Recovery Task Group.
Welcome To Yorkshire has been working with the county’s tourism sector, including local authorities, national parks, LEPs and business representatives, on a recovery plan, to support and promote businesses and attractions, to enable them to reopen, recover and rebuild from the Covid-19 pandemic.
Welcome to Yorkshire’s Chief Executive James Mason said: “The resurgence of Yorkshire tourism is of the utmost importance to the county. Times are tricky for all businesses, as a result of the current coronavirus situation, and pre-pandemic tourism was worth £9bn to the Yorkshire economy and employed almost 225,000 people. The team at Welcome to Yorkshire are determined and committed, to continue doing all that’s possible to work closely with the whole county and its tourism representatives, during this recovery period to support and guide.
“Knowing Nicky’s strong skills and excellent expertise in heritage, retail, hospitality and entertainment will be a huge asset, to help successfully steer the county’s businesses and organisations through its reopening, recovery and rebuilding stages over the coming months and beyond.”
Mrs Chance-Thompson, CEO at The Piece Hall Trust and chair of the Tourism Recovery Task Group, said: “It’s vital that we plan carefully for the tourism sector’s recovery from this incredibly difficult situation, taking into account our understanding of the real extent of need reaching across the whole of the sector and supply chain.
“We will seek to identify exactly what will be required to help the sector to survive into next year and ensure that we can recover. All of the cultural, heritage, hospitality, retail and tourism sectors have a vital role to play nationally, regionally and locally at this time and for future recovery in the emotional and economic sense.
“Leading the agenda for our regional tourism recovery, our Task Group role is to gather and analyse data and feedback any sector insights into Government
planning and strategy, whilst continuing to provide advice and support at this challenging time.
“As chair of the Tourism Recovery Task Group, I would like to invite others from across the Yorkshire region and retail sector to come forward and help us in our dedicated efforts to recover this critical sector that contributes so much to the lives of people and economy of this country. As the fourth largest employment sector in the UK, it’s important that we preserve it.”
Since it re-opened in August 2017, The Piece Hall has attracted over five million visitors.
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