14/12/2009

New annual business tourism statistics have just been released for York. The research, commissioned by Welcome to Yorkshire and Yorkshire Forward, reveal that York is upping the ante in the business tourism stakes.

York has leapt three places (ahead of Nottingham, Brighton and Coventry) in the *UK Tourism Survey and is now ranked 7th (up from 10th) in the top ten business tourism cities in England.

The total economic impact from business tourism in York in 2008 was £203m.

The 2008 total is made up from:

• £133.42m spend at the venues (direct spend associated to the event/conference) and
• An additional £69.48m spend in the destination (extra spend, such as transport, food and drink other than that provided by the venue).

In 2007 business tourism for the city generated £132.4 million worth of direct value to venues. Additional spend has not been calculated before, therefore the total value placed on business tourism in York combining the £133.42m and the £69.48m additional spend is now £203million.

During 2008 the total number of delegate days increased from 1.8 million to 2.2 million and average time business visitors are staying in the city increased to 1.9 days (up from 1.6 days in the previous year). The total length of residential conferences increased from 2 days to 2.4 days. The average daily delegate rate increased from £37 to £38 and the average residential delegate rate increased from £127 to £132.

63% of business events taking place in York came from other parts of Yorkshire, with 33% booking from other parts of the UK and 4% (up from 2% in the previous year) booking from overseas. Events from overseas increased from 693 events in 2007 to 904 events in 2008.

Business travellers to York spent an average £62 per trip on accommodation, travel, food and drink, generating an additional £69 million for the wider economy - this compares with a £47 regional average.

Gillian Cruddas, Chief Executive of Visit York said, ‘York's hotel and conference venues have risen to the challenge of providing first class facilities for the business traveller and this has paid off, placing York in the top seven key business destinations in England. With the opening of the new Cedar Court Grand hotel next year, York has never had such a fantastic range of meeting and conference venues to offer the business traveller.'

Looking ahead to 2010 York will start the New Year with the biggest education conference in the UK, taking place from 6-8 January 2010, bringing with it an estimated £400,000 investment for the city's vital business tourism economy. The NEEC 2010 event is expected to attract up to four hundred children's services professionals.

Delegates will be staying at the city's four star Royal York Hotel where the main conference will be held and other activities will be hosted at venues across the city including a gala dinner at the National Railway Museum, a civic reception at York Minster and educational forums at York College, the University of York and the University of York St John. Additional accommodation is also being supplied by the Park Inn hotel, the Ramada Encore and the Dean Court Hotel. The conference is being hosted by City of York Council, working in partnership with Visit York, the University of York, York St John University and York College. ENDS

Press Contact: For more information, please contact Kay Hyde, PR Manager, Visit York, Tel: 01904 554451, email: kh@visityork.org  Mobile 07961 828092.

Notes to the Editor:

The summary report of the results (taken from original national report - Tribal Economic Model) produced by Team Tourism Consulting can now be seen on: www.welcometoyorkshire.net/www.welcometoyorkshire.net/Research/Business-Tourism-Research.aspx

Results for the Yorkshire region as a whole were issued by news release (8/12/09) - this Visit York news release highlights key elements of the research for York.

*The UK Tourism Survey is produced by Visit England and is fed into the annual Welcome to Yorkshire statistics. According to this survey York has increased its ranking as a business tourism destination.

In 2008 the top ten most visited English cities for UK business travellers were:
1 London
2 Birmingham
3 Manchester
4 Leeds
5 Bristol
6 Newcastle
7 York
8 Norwich
9 Nottingham
10 Brighton

In 2007 the top ten most visited English cities for UK business travellers were:
1 London
2 Manchester
3 Birmingham
4 Newcastle
5 Bristol
6 Leeds
7 Coventry
8 Brighton
9 Nottingham
10 York

Visit York

• Visit York is the official tourism body for York and the surrounding area.
• Visit York is supported by Welcome to Yorkshire and City of York Council. Yorkshire Forward, The Regional Development Agency, funds Welcome to Yorkshire, which is charged with improving the Yorkshire and Humber visitor economy.
• Visit York is the driving force of the city's tourism industry. Key facts include:

                      the city welcomed 4.09 million visitors (2007/08)

                      £364 million total visitor spend (2007/08)

                     80% of visitors to the city were repeat visitors (2007/08)
(08/09 figures to be confirmed shortly)

• Visit York's aim is to market York as a must-see world-class destination to the leisure and business visitor, and ensure investment to develop the quality of tourism in York. Visit York is responsible for leisure and conference marketing, visitor services (running the city's Visitor Information Centre), training and developing the tourism product.